Long Road Home
by bobbiejod
Summary: Penelope disappears one day without a trace. Several months later they are reunited with her. But what really happened to her all those months that she was gone? Final Chapter Up! Please Read!
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** So I wanted to post this because I was anxious to share it with all of you. I hope you like this first chapter. PLZ R&R!

 **Disclaimer:** I own no one.

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

Derek Morgan walked into his bedroom one morning and smiled at the sight that greeted him. The figure on the bed was curled up on one side of the bed with Clooney curled up beside her. He couldn't believe how lucky he was; for them to come together the way they did.

She had spent the night last night-actually he had demanded that she stay the night-when she arrived for their movie night and looked about ready to drop. She told him that she had been suffering through a headache all day and had also started feeling nauseous again.

So they moved their movie marathon to his bedroom while he tried to get her to feel better. She had fallen asleep within the first hour so he just let her sleep, hoping that she would feel better by morning.

"Good morning," he announced his presence.

"Mmm," she grumbled as she pulled the covers over her head.

"Good morning, Baby Girl." He pulled the covers back.

"Stop your chattering," she mumbled

"I take it that you still have your headache?" he sat beside her.

"Not as bad," she opened one eye to look at him. "What time is it?"

"Early," he told her. "But I think you need to make a doctor's appointment."

"It's just a headache," she slowly sat up.

"I'm talking about your upset stomach," he looked at her. "It's been bothering you for almost a week now. I don't think Hotch will let you leave early again."

"I hate going to the doctors,"

"I know, but I want to make sure that you're all right. I'll go with you if I have to."

"I'll go," she sighed. "You don't have to come with me."

"You promise you'll go today?"

"Yes," she sighed as her phone started to ring.

She reached for it where it lay on Derek's bedside table. She smiled as she glanced at the Caller ID and clicked it on.

"Hey," Derek saw her smile brightly. "How's it going?"

"Should I be jealous?" he asked her.

"It's Tim," she mouthed and he nodded.

Tim was one of her brothers. A few months back, she decided to try to find her brothers and reconnect with them. She was able to track them down and sent them all emails to let them know what she had been up to since they lost contact. The only one who responded was Tim. He tried to get the other three to call or email their sister, but so far there was no contact from them. She was disappointed, but she gladly reconnected with Tim and his family.

"Tell him hi for me," Derek told her.

"Here," Penelope took her phone away from her ear. "Bro, you're on speaker."

"Hey Tim," Derek greeted him.

"Hey Derek," Tim's voice came out of the phone. "Are you treating my sister ok?"

"If I don't, she has no problem telling me."

"I bet she doesn't."

"I'll let you guys talk while I start to get ready," Derek got off the bed. "I'll drop you off at the doctors' on my way to work."

"Why do you need to go to the doctors?" Tim asked. "Is everything ok?"  
"I haven't been feeling well so he's making me go."

"You should. Although I do remember your phobia of hospitals."

"So you can see why I fought him on this."

"Just go to the doctors, sis. I'm making plans for us to come out and see you soon. I want you healthy so you can show me and my girls all the sights of DC."

"Really? You guys are coming out here?"

"If I can work it all out."

"That's great," she smiled as Derek came out of the bathroom in just a towel. "I should go. I'll call you later tonight so that I can tallk to the girls."

"They look forward to your nightly calls. Go to the doctors."

"Talk to you later bro," Penelope smiled as she hung up.

"You heard him," Derek started to get dressed as she got off the bed. "Go get ready so that I can take you to the doctors."

"I'm going, Pushy." She started into the bathroom. "I'm glad I left some clothes here so that you don't have to bother dropping me off at my place and holding us up even longer."

"It would be no bother," he told her as she closed the bathroom door behind her.

They had kept their relationship a secret for over a year until they were accidentally discovered by none other than Reid at the company Christmas party. They were forced to reveal it to the team, and they weren't at all surprised. As long as they kept it out of the office, none of them had a problem with it. They wouldn't have cared if they did have a problem; they would've continued seeing each other no matter who had a problem with them.

* * *

Derek arrived at the BAU a little while later and took the elevator up to the bullpen. He had left Penelope at the doctors; he had waited with her until the nurse called her back for her appointment so that he could be sure that she would actually go. She promised to call him after she got done so that he could pick her up.

Derek walked into the bullpen and spotted Hotch coming out of his office and down the stairs towards him. He set his things down as Hotch approached him.

"Where's Garcia?" he asked him.

"I just dropped her off at the doctor's office. I made her get looked at."

"Good. I was going to talk to her today if she was still unwell."

"She's going to call me when I need to pick her up."

"All right," Hotch walked away as Prentiss and JJ came over to Derek.

"So how's it going with Garcia?" JJ asked.

"Fine," he mumbled.

"Come on, give us a little more," Prentiss urged.

"This is exactly why we kept it a secret for over a year," he told them. "Because we didn't want you all butting in so much."

"We're not butting in," Prentiss put in. "We're being protective."

"And I appreciate that, but I won't hurt Garcia."

"We're glad," JJ stated as she walked back up to her office.

"Cause if you did, we'd have to seriously hurt you." Emily stated.

"I understand," he smiled at her as he started on his paperwork.

* * *

Penelope walked out of the doctor's office building in total shock. She couldn't believe the news that she had just received. She took her phone out and dialed the number that she had ingrained in her memory.

"Hey Baby Girl, how did your appointment go?" she smiled at his voice.

"Good," she replied.

"So you found out why you've been so sick lately?"

"He said the headaches I've been having lately are stress-related." She told him. "I guess I just need to relax more."

"I could probably help you with that."

"I'm sure you could."

"What'd he say about your upset stomach?"

"That I will tell you about when I get back."

"Sounds serious. Is everything ok?"

"Don't worry so much, Handsome."

"So do you need me to pick you up now?"

"I need to pick up a couple things first."

"So how much longer do you think you're going to be?"

"I just have a couple errands to run."

"I'll let Hotch know," he told her. "Just hurry so I can bring you back, Hotness."

"I'll call you when I'm done." Penelope told him before she hung up the phone.

Then reality suddenly started to set in; she had no idea what Derek's reaction would be when he found out her news. They hadn't talked about this yet. Were they ready for this so soon in their relationship?

She was pulled out of her thoughts as she heard the distinct sound of someone in pain. She turned abruptly and was shocked at the scene she saw in the alley just yards away.

* * *

Derek started getting worried when Penelope hadn't called him more than an hour later; but he was downright distraught when it was three hours and he still hadn't heard anything from her. As the hours kept stretching on, he was getting more and more aggitated. Hotch and Rossi were trying to keep him calm as JJ kept asking him the same questions over and over.

"Please stop!" Derek glared at them. "I've told you everything."

"We just want you to stay calm," Hotch told him. "We all want to know if Garcia is all right."

"What did she say to you on that phone call?" JJ asked.

"The doctor said she has stress-induced headaches, and she said that she needed to tell me something in person. She just needed to pick something up first."

"What did she need to pick up?" Rossi asked.

"I assume the doctor gave her prescriptions to fill."

"I'll call every pharmacy within a ten-block radius of her doctor's office." Hotch took out his phone.

Derek looked up as the glass doors opened and Reid and Prentiss rushed into them. They had gone to both Penelope's and Derek's places to see if anything was out of place.

"Well?" Derek looked at them.

"Nothing was out of place." Prentiss told them.

"If Garcia was just going to leave like the police say she did, she wouldn't have left her laptop or her tablet behind." Reid told them.

"They think she just left?" Derek's eyes narrowed.

"That's just one of their theories," Prentiss said. "But we know that she would never just leave like this."

"Where could she be?" Derek demanded.

"We'll find her, Morgan." Rossi assured him as Derek's phone started to ring and he clicked it on.

"This is Morgan,"

"Derek, it's Tim. Is Penelope all right?"

"Why do you ask?"

"She's missed her nightly call with the girls. They are very upset."

"Has she ever missed one before?"

"Not since she found us. It's like clockwork. She calls us at the exact same time every night. What is going on?"

"We're not sure yet. I haven't heard from her for the last several hours."

"Oh god," Derek heard the anguish in Tim's voice. "You're going to find my sister right?"

"We are doing everything we can," Derek assured him as he saw Hotch come back into them. "I have to go now. I will call and keep you updated. I promise."

"Who was that?" JJ asked him as he hung up his phone.

"Tim Garcia, Penelope's brother."

"What? Since when has she been talking to her brothers?"

"She tracked them all down and reached out to them. Tim is the only one who's responded so far. They've been reconnecting for the past month. He's making plans to bring his family out here so they can all meet up in person."

"So why did he call?" Emily asked. "Does he know something?"

"He got worried when she didn't call to talk to his daughters. She calls at the same time every night to talk to his daughters."

"We'll figure out what happened." Rossi told him.

"Did you find anything?" Derek looked at Hotch.

"She hasn't had any prescriptions filled or picked up at any of the pharmacy's surrounding her doctor's office." He told them.

"Where the hell is she?" Derek slammed his fist on his desk. "This isn't like her. Something has happened. She needs our help."

"We're not going to give up until we find her, Morgan." Hotch assured him.

"We'll find her," Rossi stated.

Little did they know, that it would be a long time before they set their eyes on Penelope Garcia again.

* * *

 **AN:** So what'd you all think? Are you intrigued yet? What do you think happened to Penelope? Hope you liked this first chapter. I've already started working on the next chapter. Keep your eyes open for it.

PLZ R&R!

 **AN** **2:** I've decided that Penelope's brothers and their families will have the same names and ages in this one as they did in Finding Happiness. Their personalities may just change drastically. Hope you like how they turn out in this story.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** Here's the next chapter for all of you. You may be a little surprised with this chapter, but I hope that you still give it a chance. PLZ R&R!

 **Disclaimer:** See first chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Aaron Hotchner gathered all the information he had just received and started out of his office. He clutched the very thin folder that he had carried with him everywhere he went for the last few years. They continued to search for any kind of lead on the sudden disappearance of their technical analyst; at the same time, they had to continue to work their other cases.

The team wasn't the same since Penelope disappeared without a trace, but Derek was the most distraught. He still did his job well and he continued to hang out with the rest of them outside of work, but they all knew that he was suffering more than the rest. Prentiss voiced her suspicions to Hotch privately that Morgan had planned to take a big step in his relationship with Garcia; either he was going to propose to her or they were planning on moving in together. She had caught him on several occasions skimming through real estate websites.

They were all worried about Penelope's whereabouts, but they still had a job to do. Which is the reason why he was headed towards the BAU room to wait for the rest of his team. He heard the elevator doors open and saw most of the team file out.

"Why are we meeting so early?" Emily grumbled. "I had just fallen to sleep."

"Sorry everyone, but it was an emergency." Hotch told them. "Everyone head on in. We won't start the briefing until Morgan gets here."

"His car was here when we got here," Reid told him.

"I haven't see him so far,"

"I think I know where he might be," JJ said. "We'll meet you in there."

They parted ways as JJ started down the hall. She approached a door that she saw was ajar. She walked in and saw Derek sitting in the chair as he stared at the group of computers before him.

"Hey," she spoke softly. "Did you get Hotch's message?"

"Yeah," he mumbled. "I just-I needed to stop in here for a moment."

"That's not going to bring her back."

"Then what will?" he turned to look at her. "We have no idea where she is or why she left in the first place."

"We all miss her Morgan," she told him. "I know that you obviously miss her more. We won't stop looking for answers, but right now there's a case that we need to put all our focus on."

"All right," he sighed deeply as he stood up and followed her down the hall and they joined up with everyone else in the BAU room.

"Now that we're all here, we can get started." Hotch handed a file to each of them.

"What is all this?" Rossi looked through it.

"This isn't a normal case for us," Hotch started. "Our assistance has been requested by the US Marshall Service. Has anyone heard of the Santival crime family?"

"Everyone has heard of them," Morgan spoke up. "They're the most notorious crime family here in Virginia. No one has ever been able to pin anything on them."

"Until now," Hotch stated as they all flipped through the file. "A couple years ago, there was a witness to one of their crimes. The witness was put into protective custody almost immediately."

"So why are we being requested?" Emily asked.

"The District Attorney has done everything that he can to push the trial up. It's scheduled for next month. The Marshall Service is afraid that the witness will be in even more danger once the Santival family finds out. They're asking for our help."

"So we're on protective detail?" Reid asked. "Why us?"

"I agreed to do this as a personal favor," Hotch told them all. "I have very few details, but they're going to pick us up in a few minutes. They'll be taking us to an undisclosed location where they will give us more information."

"Do we know anything about the witness?" Morgan asked

"That information is on a strictly need-to-know basis for their protection."

"Sir," the door opened suddenly. "The car service is here."

"Thank you, Anderson." Hotch nodded at him. "Let's head out."

They all walked out of the room and took the elevator down to the parking garage and climbed into the awaiting van. They all settled in for the long trip as they tried to come to terms with being charged to baby-sit this witness for the next several weeks.

An hour later, they were all still in the car traveling to the location. They came to a sudden stop as they pulled into a narrow alley where another dark van was waiting for them.

"What's going on?" Emily sat up.

"We're switching vehicles," Hotch told them. "For security purposes."

They all climbed out of the van they were currently in and climbed into the other van. They all got situated again as the driver pulled out of the alley and started driving. Morgan laid his head back as he pulled his phone out and started scrolling. He stopped on a picture that he spent long hours just staring at the last several months.

"I like that picture," he heard and glanced at Emily sitting next to him.

"Me too," he sighed.

"Were you guys already together when that was taken?"

"Yeah," he just stared down at the picture.

It was of him and Penelope cuddled close to each other as they posed for the picture. It was their first official date; one that wasn't interrupted by a work call or some kind of disaster. They had kept their relationship a secret for almost two months at that point. They both were happy; but several months later, she was gone without a trace.

"We're almost there," Hotch told them as they all sat up.

They turned off the road and started heading up a long driveway. There were no markers and no indication to let anyone know that there were any occupants in the small farmhouse.

"This really is secluded," JJ commented as they came to a stop next to another official-looking vehicle.

"When we get to the door we will be stopped by an armed guard," Hotch informed them. "They will ask us for our name and rank, and we will be asked to show ID and our credentials."

They all slowly climbed out of the van one-by-one and approached the front door. The door open slightly and they saw a burly guard standing before them.

"Name, rank, and ID." He barked out.

After the guard checked off all their names on a clipboard that he had, they all made their way into the house. They stepped into what turned out to be the living area as another guy in a suit came out to them.

"Aaron,"

"Paul," they shook hands.

"Sorry about all the secrecy," he looked at all of them. "But the safer this witness is the better."

"We understand," Rossi stated. "So when can we meet this witness?"

"They just got here a few minutes before you guys. I'm going to let them get settled in a bit." He sighed. "Truth be told, this has not the easiest witness that we've been in charge of."

"Are they ever easy to handle?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, taken away from their families and friends, not being able to contact anyone, I know I'd go crazy." JJ added.

"We've had to relocate every few months. We've caught them trying to tap into the secure phone lines just to make a call."

"I'm intrigued," Morgan started. "Who knows how to tap into a secure government phone line to make outside calls?"

"Me," they all heard someone say softly and turned abruptly at a familiar voice.

"Oh my god," JJ gasped at the figure standing at the foot of the stairs.

"Baby Girl?" Derek stood shocked.

* * *

She set to work unpacking her minimal belongings in the main bedroom of yet another new location. She sighed as she took a break and sat down on the edge of the bed. The past several months were hell for her. Her family at the BAU was her whole world, and she was forced to leave them behind at a moment's notice without a word of explanation to any of them.

Leaving them all behind was rough, but there was one person in particular that she wanted to tell more than anything. After what she witnessed, she was in too much shock to be coherent when she was first questioned. After the shock finally wore off, she was already settled into her new reality that they wouldn't let her contact her team or even her brother.

The night she left behind the only world that she had been happy in was the day that her world seemed to stop. She had been counting down the days when she would finally be able to be reunited with her family. She just hoped that they would listen to her when she explained everything and wouldn't be too mad that she had left them all.

She heard a vehicle pull up the dirt drive and she went to the window. She gently pulled the curtains open just enough to see the team climbing out of the dark van. She wanted to see them all, but her attention was focused on the tall figure slowly following behind Reid up the porch steps. He looked very run-down and she thought it looked like he had lost weight. That was all her fault; if she was just able to keep it together long enough to tell them to call her team, they would have been there with her trying to protect her.

She crept out into the hall as she heard a cluster of voices and listened to the quiet conversation between her former boss and the guy that was put in charge of her safety these last several months. She couldn't stand it anymore after being apart from them all these months and she silently made her way down the stairs towards them. The team had their backs facing her as they got information about the unknown witness they were asked to protect.

"Who knows how to tap into a secure government phone line to make outside calls?" she heard Derek ask as she got to the bottom of the steps.

"Me," she spoke up and they all turned stunned faces to look at her.

"Oh my god," JJ gasped.

"Baby Girl?"

"Hey guys," she said softly.

"I knew there was a good reason why you left," Derek immediately went to her and embraced her tightly.

"I am so sorry," the tears started streaming down her face as she felt at home again in his arms. "I wanted to tell you guys so many times."

"We hear you also attempted it many times," Rossi spoke up as Morgan finally let her go so that everyone else could get their hugs in. "I'd probably do the same thing if I was in your position."

"I can't believe that you've gone through all this," Reid stated. "Are you ok?"

"I'm better now that you're all here," she smiled at them all.

"I am very happy to see you Garcia," Hotch came forward. "More than you can even imagine. But what exactly are we concerned about with your safety?"

"Actually could Paul here fill you all in?" Penelope glanced at her companion for the last several months. "Would that be ok? I really need to talk to Derek upstairs."

"I can do that," Paul assured her.

"What do you need to show me?" Derek looked at her.

"Upstairs," she told him.

"But-"

"Go with her Morgan," Emily told him. "It looks really important. Besides, I'm sure that she'll want to tell you everything in private."

"All right," Derek allowed Penelope to take his hand and lead him upstairs.

"Why the hell didn't you contact us earlier?" Hotch demanded as rounded on Paul after Derek and Penelope disappeared from their view. "The entire police force knew that we were looking for her. I know that you were informed when she disappeared."

"I didn't know that it was her when I talked to you," Paul assured him. "I didn't even know what had happened until a few hours later. By that time, it was too late to tell you anything."

"What does that mean?" Rossi took a step forward.

"She was in total shock after witnessing what she did. As in she wasn't saying a word. She wasn't responding at all actually. We thought that she was catatonic at first. One of my female colleagues was finally able to break through to her the next day, but it was too late to bring you in."

"She was catatonic?" JJ asked softly, wondering what exactly her best friend had witnessed, and wishing that she had been there to help her.

"She's never been in the field with us," Emily spoke up. "Whatever she witnessed, it was so bad that she just shut down."

"She was just in shock." Paul told them. "By the time she told us who she was and where she worked, she was too deep under our protection that we couldn't risk bringing you in. Her protection would've been compromised and who knows what would've happened if anyone found out."

"When you put it that way, at least she was protected."

"All right," Hotch sighed. "So what are we looking at here? How much danger is she in right now?"

"I have everything over here," Paul led them all to the dining table and they all started going through all the information.

* * *

Derek was more than a little curious as he followed Penelope upstairs. He so badly just wanted to hold her and never let go. After all these months, he just wanted to take her away from all of this. Someplace where it was just the two of them.

She stopped suddenly in front of a door and looked over at him. He looked at her questioningly and she just smiled.

"Ok, I wanted to tell you everything." She told him. "But most importantly, I wanted to tell you about what's waiting behind this door."

"What are you talking about?" he asked her.

"Remember the last time we talked? I called you. I said that I had some news for you. But I had to tell you in person."

"I remember it vividly," he told her. "I kept replaying that last conversation since you disappeared from my life."

"Well this was the news I had to tell you," she pushed open the door and led him inside the room.

"What-" he peered around the room until his eyes landed on the lone figure sleeping in the corner of the room.

"I'd like you to meet your son." Penelope stated to a very stunned Derek.

* * *

 **AN:** Cliffhanger! What did you all think of this? I know that some of you thought that Penelope was taken by an Unsub. I did consider rewriting the story to have it go that way, but I thought that would take too long. And I wanted to post a new chapter for you guys before the weekend was over. There will still be a lot of angst though. Penelope still has to fill in the blanks to the team about what happened to her the last couple of years. I hope I didn't just lose some of you because of this. PLZ R&R!


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** I am exhausted, but I really wanted to post an update for you guys. If there are any mistakes in this chapter, I blame the late hour. Hope you like this. PLZ R&R!

 **Disclaimer:** See first chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

Everyone was seated at the dining table as they all went through all the information from Penelope's case. With every new bit of information that they came across, they sighed deeply. They wished that they had been there for Garcia when she went through it all.

"I can't believe that she went through all this," JJ sighed. "How did they keep finding her? She has some self control. She wouldn't have tried to compromise her safety in every new place you took her."

"That's the new conclusion I came to," Paul told them. "I think there's a mole on the inside. That's the other reason that I contacted you."

"So you think that someone who was put in charge of Garcia's safety is feeding vital information to the Santival family?" Rossi asked.

"That's the only conclusion that I could come up with. How else would they be able to find us so easily each and every time?"

"Spence?" JJ watched as he looked back towards the stairs yet again. "They'll be down soon. They just need some time together."

"That have some lost time to make up for," Emily added.

"They've been up there for a while though," Reid stated. "We all missed her."

"They'll be down soon, and we can all catch up with her." Hotch told him. "For now, let's think of ways that we can protect Garcia and get her through the trial."

They all got back to work as Paul revealed more and more information about the potential mole.

* * *

Derek silently stared down into the crib at the sleeping baby. His mocha-colored complexion was the perfect mixture of himself and the woman standing across the room. She had backed away to give him some time to become accustomed to the big news.

"He's beautiful," he said softly as he gazed down at his son.

He was covered with a soft, light blue blanket that had footballs all over it. A small stuffed tan dog was clutched in his tiny grasp and a pacifier rested in his mouth as he sucked on it in his sleep.

"I would wake him up," Penelope spoke up. "But we just got here and I just got him down finally. He refused to sleep on the way here and-"

"It's ok," Derek turned back to look at her. "I can wait."

"I have tons of video footage and pictures documenting almost my entire pregnancy and his birth and up to now. I'll try to find it and we can look through it all together later."

"I'd like that," he smiled as he went to her. "What's his name?"

"James Derek Morgan," she smiled at him. "I call him Jamie; or sometimes JD."

"Jamie," Derek stated.

He glanced around the room and saw a changing table near the crib. There was a small closet with a small dresser just outside of it. There was a small toy box by the window and a glider in the corner. It was definitely the bare minimum. When this whole nightmare was over for Penelope, he would go all out decorating a room for his son at their house.

He sat down in the glider and pulled Penelope onto his lap as she smiled. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and buried his face into her neck.

"I just want to hold you," he murmured. "I've missed you so much."

"I missed you too," she laid her head on his shoulder.

"So…You don't have to tell me, but-"

"You want to know what happened that day." She looked at him.

"Only if you want to tell me,"

"I'll tell you," she sighed. "Just let me try to get through the whole thing before you start to react."

"Take your time,"

"Ok, this is what I remember…"

******Several Months Earlier******

Penelope walked out of the office building in total shock. She couldn't believe the news that she had just received. She took her phone out and dialed the number that she had ingrained in her memory.

"Hey Baby Girl, how did your appointment go?" she smiled at his voice.

"Good," she replied.

"So you found out why you've been so sick lately?"

"He said the headaches I've been having lately are stress-related." She told him. "I guess I just need to relax more."

"I could probably help you with that."

"I'm sure you could."

"What'd he say about your upset stomache?"

"That I will tell you about when I get back."

"Sounds serious. Is everything ok?"

"Don't worry so much, Handsome."

"So do you need me to pick you up now?"

"I need to pick up a couple things first."

"How much longer do you think you're going to be?"

"I just have a couple errands to run."

"I'll let Hotch know," he told her. "Just hurry so I can bring you back, Hotness."

"I'll call you when I'm done." Penelope told him before she hung up the phone.

Then reality suddenly started to set in; she had no idea what Derek's reaction would be when he found out her news. They hadn't talked about this yet. Were they ready for this so soon in their relationship?

She was pulled out of her thoughts as she heard the distinct sound of someone in pain. She turned abruptly and was shocked at the scene she saw in the alley just yards away; there was a woman crouched on the ground as a man stood over her pointing a gun at her head. She immediately recognized the man holding the gun. He was constantly in the headlines; his name was Luis Santival, the head of the Santival crime family.

Penelope crouched behind a parked car, making sure to stay out of sight,and shakily took out her phone. She dialed 911 and stayed on the line as the dispatcher instructed her until the authorities arrived. As the dispatcher talked to her to keep her calm, she heard scuffling sounds, the woman pleading for her life, the man laughing manically, and finally several gunshots. She heard everything that had happened, but she didn't see it.

When the local police arrived, they took the man into custody and immediately started questioning Penelope. She had no recollection of anything after she called for help though. According to Paul, she was unresponsive even though she could function otherwise. By the time, she was talking and could give them details about what she witnessed, it was too late.

Before she knew it, they were putting her into protective custody and she was leaving the only life she knew behind. They wouldn't allow her to contact anyone because by that time she was too deep under their protection; she was immediately relocated and started her new life of isolation…

*****Present*****

Derek remained silent as she finished her story. The team should have been called so that they could at least takke turns staying with her. He couldn't believe that his Baby Girl had been through everything that she had. He should've been there to protect her. She was all alone for months and months; afraid that the Santival's would suddenly show up and end everything. Well all that stopped now; he wouldn't leave her side until the people responsible for all her fear paid for what they did.

"Derek?" Penelope spoke softly as she slowly looked up into his eyes.

"Baby Girl," he looked down at her. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through that."

"It's not your fault," she assured him. "I wanted to tell all of you as soon as I became aware of what was going on. I actually tried to call you quite a few times."

"So I heard," he smiled at her.

"The main reason that I wanted to call you was because-after Jamie was born-if we couldn't all stay together, then I at least wanted you all to keep him safe until I was out of danger."

"I would've been here-"

"I know," she smiled at him. "I've missed everyone so much, but I missed you the most. I finally feel at home here in your arms."

"I missed you too." He said softly. "If I'm being honest with you, I didn't cope with everything very well."

"I can see that," she ran her hand over the stubble on his face. "You haven't been taking care of yourself."

"It didn't seem worth it."

"Well that had better stop now," she stated firmly. "You need to be on your game. If you guys are going to be here now, then I will make sure that you take care of yourself."

"I like the sound of that," he smiled at her. "So I'm guessing that you haven't been around much technology since you left."

"I have a desktop computer," she replied. "It's set up so the search history and the memory erases itself every five minutes."

"And?"

"And it's horrible," she sighed. "It has been so long-"

"I know," they both sat up abruptly as they heard movement from the crib.

Derek smiled as he caught a glimpse of inquisitive eyes peering at them as he slowly pulled himself up to stand in the crib. He started to softly whimper and Penelope went to pick him up and rocked him in her arms as he became fully awake.

"It's ok sweetie," she whispered. "You don't like waking up in all these new places, do you? Hopefully you won't have to for very much longer."

"Is he always like this when he wakes up?" Derek asked as she took him to the changing table.

"Whenever we move to a new location," she told him. "Let me change him and get him dressed and then we'll do the introductions."

"I can get his clothes," he went to the dresser and started opening the drawers. "I think I can anyway."

"Most of it is matched up correctly," she told him. "The top drawer is just pajamas. If you pick anything with Lightning McQueen or any kind of sports on it you're golden."

"Got it," he opened the second drawer and pulled out a pair of jean pants and a long-sleeved shirt that had a Disney cartoon car on it.

He went to Penelope with the selections as she fastened a clean diaper on him and took him out of the pajamas that he had slept in. She smiled as she got Jamie into the outfit and took the pacifier from his mouth.

"You don't need that," she told him as he started to fuss. "No you don't."

"I take it that he's attached to it?" Derek asked.

"Definitely," she looked at him. "I'm trying to wean him off it, only letting him have it at night and for his naps. I give in a lot though; especially when he's extremely cranky."

"Well I'm here to help you now," he told her as she attempted to put a pair of socks on their son's feet.

"Ok," she picked him up and faced Derek. "Jamie, say hello to daddy."

Derek reached for him and slowly took him from his mother's arms. Jamie's bottom lip started to quiver as he looked at Penelope.

"It's all right," she rubbed his back. "I'm right here, but your daddy needs to hold you now. He needs to make up for lost time."

"So should we go make the introductions downstairs?" He looked at her. "And I did hear a lot of yelling down there awhile ago."

"I imagine that they were all yelling at Paul for not telling them about my whereabouts."

"I don't blame them." Derek mumbled.

"Just don't do any yelling in front of your son."

"Got it. We should probably let everyone meet him."

"We have been up here for over an hour," she told him. "Their imaginations are probably running wild with what we're occupying our time with up here."

"Just so you know I don't plan on letting him go anytime soon." He told her as they walked out of the room.

Penelope grabbed the blanket and stuffed dog from the crib before following them down the stairs.

* * *

Everyone was still poring through all the information about Penelope's time away from all of them. With every new bit of information, they got even more upset. To think that Penelope had to go through all of this by herself.

Reid looked up once again from the file that he was reading through as he heard a noise and stared shocked at the sight before him. Morgan was walking towards them with a small child in his arms as Garcia followed behind them.

"Uh guys," Reid spoke up.

"Did you find something, Reid?" Emily asked him.

"No, but-" he couldn't take his eyes of the scene before him.

"What-" they looked in the direction that Reid was looking and saw the shocking scene as well.

Derek was holding a small child in his arms; he had mocha-colored skin just like Derek and a head full of dark curly hair. His eyes were inquisitive as he looked at the room full of people.

"So remember the phone call I said I got from her the day she disappeared?" Derek started. "She said she had big news for me. Well, say hello to James Derek Morgan. She calls him Jamie."

"Oh my god," JJ and Emily immediately got up and rushed over to them.

"Can we hold him?" Emily looked at her friend.

"If Derek will let him go," Penelope smiled at her friends as the rest of the team gathered around.

"In my defense, I've only had him for five minutes." Derek said as he reluctantly let Emily hold his son. "He was sleeping when we went upstairs."

"He's a little Morgan," JJ took him next. "But he has your eyes, PG."

"How old is he?" Rossi asked.

"Ten months," Garcia told them. "I was only a few weeks along when I found out about him and had to leave all of you."

"Did you have any help?" JJ asked as Reid took a turn holding him. "I know when Henry was born, I was lucky to have Will there."

"Yeah, you've been surrounded by US Marshalls," Emily added. "I can't imagine that they'd be too helpful in this area."

"There was a woman that traveled with us," Penelope told them. "Her name is Shannon. She was a midwife, nanny and a nurse all rolled into one. Believe me, she was a godsend."

"We told her that she wasn't needed right now," Paul told them. "Since we were bringing you guys in."

"He looks like he can be a handful," Hotch finally took his turn holding Jamie.

"He has his moments," Garcia took Jamie as he started to fuss. "He's not used to being around this many people all at once. Plus it's almost lunchtime."

"Whoa, it is." Rossi looked at the time. "I don't suppose you have any food in this place do you?"

"I'm sure I can find some things for you guys," Penelope turned to Paul. "We are getting low on some things."

"Just make out a list and I'll go on a supply run." He told her.

Dave followed Penelope into the kitchen and watched as she opened a cupboard and got a sippy cup down. She pulled a bottle of juice out of the fridge and attempted to pour it in the cup with Jamie still in her arms.

"Let me," he stepped forward and she smiled gratefully.

"Thank you, its half juice and half water." She got out one of the gallons of nursery water and watched him prepare the cup.

"We really missed you Kitten," he gave the cup to Jamie and he started greedily drinking it.

"I missed you guys too," she smiled. "I can't even begin to tell you how much. I'm sure Paul told you how I was in the beginning."

"He may have mentioned it,"

"I was very distraught the first few months. When they found me trying to contact you guys several times, I felt like a prisoner. I just wished I could've been with you guys. Especially with the news that I didn't get to share with everyone."

"About Jamie,"

"Yeah," she said softly.

"Sorry to interrupt," Derek came into them. "But I need more time with my son."

"Of course," Penelope handed him over. "But just so you know, I will be going through withdrawal as you volunteer to do more. I'm basically the only one who takes care of him."

"Well I plan on being hands-on, so you'll just have to learn to loosen the reins."

"I'll try," she smiled at him.

"Let's see what you have here," Dave opened the pantry.

"I'm afraid it's all kid-friendly items," Penelope told him. "It's all very fast and easy to make."

"Yes I see that. Macaroni and cheese, ramen noodles, ravioli, pizza kit…"

"I see some spaghetti noodles on the top shelf there," Derek pointed. "And some canned sauce."

"Not as good as the real thing that you make," Penelope looked at Rossi.

"But it is better than nothing," he told her.

"You might be able to find some garlic toast in the freezer."

"Tell you what," Dave pushed the three of them towards the next room. "I will make lunch while you catch up with everyone."

"But-"

"Loosen the reins Baby Girl," Derek told her. "Let us do things for you."

"All right," she sighed. "We'll try to keep him calm while you cook, but you better hurry. He can be unmanageable when he's hungry."

"I will work fast," Dave told her as he warmed up the stove.

Penelope followed Derek into the sitting area where everyone else was. She sat down beside Reid as Derek sat beside her with Jamie still in his arms.

"Is he walking yet?" Emily asked as they rejoined them.

"Not yet, but he attempts it." Penelope told her. "He'll get into a standing position, but he'll just stand there until he sits back down and starts crawling again."

"He'll walk when he wants to," JJ told them as Jamie managed to slide out of Derek's arms and crawled over to where a storage box was placed beside Hotch.

"His toys are in there Boss Man," Penelope told him and Hotch smiled as he took the lid off the container as Jamie pulled himself up and pulled out a truck and started pushing it on the floor.

"I can't get over how much he looks like you Morgan," Emily stated.

They all sat around and watched Jamie play. After awhile, Reid got down on the floor with him and they started tossing a ball back and forth.

"Lunch is served," Rossi announced suddenly as he came out to them a little while later. "It's not as good as the stuff I make, but come and get it."

They all stood up and headed towards the kitchen as Penelope took Jamie's shirt and pants off. She picked him up and took him to the dining area. She pulled a high chair out of the corner and got Jamie fastened into it.

"He loves his spaghetti, but he is very messy with it." She told them as they all watched her in her mothering role.

They all sat down at the table as Penelope went to prepare Jamie's plate. Derek intercepted her and pushed her towards the table where everyone else was.

"Let me prepare his food, and get you a plate as well."

"I can get it,"

"Loosen the reins, Baby Girl."

"All right," she sighed as she went back and sat at the table between JJ and Emily.

"It's hard to give up control no matter what the circumstances," JJ told her. "In our eyes, no one does it as good as their Mama."

"That's exactly how I feel," Penelope sighed.

"You have to let him be a dad though. You've had almost a year. He just found out that he was a father a couple hours ago. You need to let him show you that he can do this."

"I know," she smiled as Derek came out and placed her plate in front of her as he also held a smaller child plate.

"Should I even bother leaving the plate or just dump it?" He looked at Penelope.

"Just dump it," she told him. "Most of it will end up on the floor anyway."

Derek shrugged as he dumped Jamie's meal on the high chair tray and went back to get his own food. When he came back out, he was shocked at what he saw; Jamie had spaghetti noodles hanging off his head as he still attempted to get them into his mouth.

"That's impressive," he stated. "It took him less than five minutes."

"He has talent," Penelope smiled as she could actually relax as she ate her meal while Derek handled Jamie.

* * *

 **AN:** So what'd you think of Derek's first interactions with his son? I hope you liked it. PLZ R&R!


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:** Another update for all of you. I meant to post this over the weekend, but I had a lot of tweaking and re-tweaking to do with it. I hope you like how this chapter turned out. PLZ R&R!

 **Disclaimer:** See first chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

They all sat around talking while they ate lunch-mostly about Jamie-and getting reacquainted with Penelope. They all finally decided that it was time to clear off the table when Jamie had dumped the last of his lunch all over the floor. Penelope started to lift Jamie out of the high chair to clean him off, but JJ put her hand out to stop her from getting up as she smiled at her.

"Let Auntie JJ take care of this," she took Jamie out of the high chair and started into the kitchen. "I think Daddy should clean up the mess while Mommy takes a break in the living room."

"On it," Derek got up and went to go find a broom and a mop.

"He's being extremely helpful right now," Emily looked at Penelope. "I'm waiting for him to have a breakdown."

"Want to take bets on how long it will take him to ask for help?" Penelope smiled.

"First diaper change," Emily told her.

"Bedtime," Dave stated

"First tantrum of the night," Hotch added.

"What's your take Garcia?" Reid asked her.

"Bath time," she smiled as Derek came out of the kitchen with a broom.

"What about bath time?" He looked at them all.

"Nothing, Handsome." Penelope smiled sweetly.

"Riiiiight," he started cleaning up the mess from lunch.

"If everyone is done, I will clean all this up." Dave started to clear the table.

"You made the meal. You shouldn't have to clean up." Penelope told him.

"I insist," he took her plate. "Go and relax. Catch up with everyone."

"Come on," Emily started to pull her towards the living room. "When someone tells you that they want you to sit while they clean for you, jump at it."

"I'll try harder," Penelope told her as they sat in the living room.

"All sprayed down," JJ came out with Jamie. "He does need a diaper change though. And no you aren't doing it. I can do it. Just tell me where the diapers are."

"In his room upstairs," Penelope told her.

"Should I try to lay him down for a nap?"

"I doubt that he'll take one since he woke up just a couple hours ago."

"Right," JJ nodded as she started up the stairs.

"So do you get any channels on this?" Reid came into them and picked up the TV remote. "Or is it just for show?"

"It works," Penelope told him. "But the only channels I ever watch are Nick Junior or Disney Junior. Or I have a few movies for Jamie too, which we watch a lot."

"Does he have a favorite movie?" Hotch asked.

"Cars all the way. He watches it at least once a day."

"All right, he is all clean and dry." JJ brought Jamie back down and Penelope took him and got him back into his clothes.

Derek and Rossi finished cleaning up the kitchen as they heard everyone having a good time in the living room. He could hear Penelope talking animatedly and everyone else laughing at what she was saying. Hotch finally came in to give them a hand after a long while as he saw Dave talking with Derek quietly.

"What's going on?" he interrupted them.

"Penelope," Derek sighed.

"We're going to keep her safe Morgan," Rossi assured him. "Her and your son."

"It's not that exactly." He looked at them. "I heard you and Paul talking a little bit ago. We're supposed to leave and go back to the BAU tonight."

"Yeah," Hotch sighed. "I was trying to find a way to tell everyone, but I knew that you wouldn't take it well."

"Look I've already missed too much," Derek started. "Almost a year of Jamie's life. I missed going through the pregnancy with Garcia, helping her during childbirth, taking over Dad Duty when she felt like she couldn't handle him, I'm not leaving."

"Morgan-"

"What if I stay here and be on protective detail? She told me that Paul is constantly coming and going running back and forth between the safe houses and his headquarters. That means that they're both constantly alone. With just a month left before the trial, I think the Santival's will up their strategy to make sure that she can't testify against them."

"He has a point," Rossi stated. "We can find ways to keep in touch with each other."

"I'll run it by Paul," Hotch conceded. "But if we do this, the only ones that you should be communicating with is either this team or Paul. He thinks that there's a mole on the inside feeding information to the Santival's."

"Deal," Derek agreed.

"Hey Morgan," Reid appeared in the doorway. "You should come in here. There's something you need to see."

"What's going on?" The three of them followed Reid back into the living room.

"I was able to find all the pictures and footage I told you about earlier," Penelope smiled at him as she opened a box and pulled out the album on top and handed it over to him. "This is the one that I kept during my pregnancy."

"Look at all these scrapbooks," JJ commented. "You certainly put a lot of detail into these."

"I didn't have much else to do to keep me occupied this whole time," Penelope stood up. "You guys go ahead and look through all of those. I need to make out a shopping list for Paul."

Derek spotted Jamie sitting on the couch with his stuffed dog and covered with his blanket. He slowly sat beside him as he opened up the scrapbook that Penelope made while she was pregnant. He smiled as he saw all the ultrasound scans and Penelope's notes about her morning sickness and other symptoms. He got to the back where there was a list of possible baby names that she had considered next to a 3D Ultrasound picture with Penelope's handwriting underneath it with the words, 'IT'S A BOY!'.

Penelope came back in to them with a small pad of paper that she had scrawled out the shopping list on. She sat down next to Derek again and he glanced at the list in confusion.

"I have no idea what half that stuff is," he gestured to the list.

"This is all for Jamie," she told him. "All of his food and snacks."

"I guess you'll have to educate me on all things Jamie."

"Hey Garcia," she looked up at JJ and saw that Jamie was near her holding a movie case. "I think he wants movie time."

"I didn't even see him get down," Derek looked next to him. "He's sneaky."

"Just like his daddy," Penelope told him. "Reid can you put that in since you're right by the TV?"

"Got it," he booted up the DVD player and inserted the disc.

As soon as the opening scene of Cars started playing, Jamie turned his attention to the TV. Penelope handed over the blanket and dog to Reid and he got Jamie situated a few more feet back from the TV.

"I take it that those are his security blankets." Emily stated.

"Yep," Penelope nodded. "He won't sleep unless he has them both. Which is why he didn't sleep on the way here; they were packed up."

Penelope finally started to relax as they all continued to look through the pictures and asked Penelope to explain each one. She kept yawning as she laid her head against Derek's shoulder and her eyes slowly started to close.

"Morgan," Hotch gestured next to him and he glanced down and saw Penelope sound asleep.

"She looks like she needs her rest," Rossi commented.

"She does," Paul came back into them. "I think she only averages about two to three hours of sleep a night."

"Let's let her sleep then," Hotch told them. "We should get back to the case anyway."

The others walked back to the table as Derek slowly got himself untangled from Penelope. He slowly lay her down across the couch and covered her with a blanket. She started to stir and he cursed under his breath as her eyes fluttered open.

"What-" she started to sit back up.

"Lay back down," he ordered her. "You need to get some sleep, Baby Girl."

"Jamie," she mumbled.

"His daddy and aunties and uncles will take care of him," he told her as he pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. "Just sleep, Baby Girl."

"Ok," she nodded as her eyes closed again.

"Is she asleep?" JJ asked as he joined them at the table.

"Yeah," he sighed as he took one of the files. "So what do we have?"

"Just prepare yourself," Emily warned him.

"Because you will get upset." Rossi added.

"We all did earlier," Reid told him.

They were all right; he did get upset. To think that Penelope had lived in fear for months and months; fear that someone would find her and end everything. The majority of the threats happened while she was pregnant though. What kind of state had she been in? When she realized how much danger that she was really in. He glared across the table at Paul.

"The only reason that I'm not saying what I really want to say to you is because I promised her that I would not yell in front of our son." He stated.

"Understood," Paul nodded.

"I'd expect an explosion after all this is over."

"We've already warned him," Rossi told him. "But you should calm down unless you want to wake her up. I think she needs her rest right now."

"Right," he spotted Penelope still sleeping soundly on the couch.

"He is getting antsy," Emily held Jamie out for Derek to take, which he gladly accepted his son into his arms.

"Maybe it's snacktime or something," Derek commented.

"I'll see what I can find," Rossi got up and went into the kitchen.

"So I know that we all want to stay here and be with Garcia," Hotch started to tell them all. "But we have better resources at the BAU. We need to pull everything we have into this case."

"So that means that we're leaving," Reid stated.

"We have to," JJ told them. "If we want to help Garcia."

"But I have thought a lot about this," Paul spoke up. "Agent Morgan can stay. I never feel comfortable leaving Penelope here with just the armed guards and truthfully, I've never seen her smile as much as she has today when she was reunited with all of you. Unless it's because she's with Jamie."

"You're really letting me stay with them?" Morgan asked.

"We will continually check in with you," Hotch told him. "You will have an untraceable, throwaway cell phone. The only ones you should be contacting on it is this team."

"Deal," Morgan agreed as Rossi came out of the kitchen with Jamie's filled sippy cup and a small cup of animal crackers that he had managed to find.

* * *

Penelope awoke suddenly when she felt something hit her arm. She blinked her eyes open and smiled as she saw Jamie standing before her as he kept lightly smacking her arm.

"Mama," he giggled.

"Hey sweetie," she smiled as she slowly sat up.

"Hey Little Man," Derek came in. "Don't wake up your Mama."

"It's all right," she placed Jamie in her lap. "It's the perfect way to wake up. One of the ways anyway. How long did I sleep?"

"A few hours," Derek sat beside her as he gave Jamie a small cup that he had refilled with animal crackers. "I guess you needed it."

"Where is everyone?"

"They're in the back. Hotch and Paul are discussing some things."

"Garcia you're awake," JJ came in with Emily. "How'd you sleep?"

"Good," she smiled at them. "So what's going on?"

"Good you're awake," Hotch came in with Rossi and Reid. "We're going to be leaving in a little while and going back to the BAU so that we can pull all our resources to keep you safe."

"So…you're all leaving?" Penelope looked at Derek.

"I'm staying," he told her. "We already discussed it. I've already missed too much. I'm not missing anymore. This way I can make sure that you're safe."

"We'll communicate with each other by calls or texts on untraceable, throwaway cell phones," Hotch told them. "But only if it pertains to this case. We don't need anyone compromising your location."

"Got it," Penelope nodded her head as she smiled at Derek.

* * *

A few hours later, they all had a tearful good-bye with Garcia and Jamie. They all had just found each other; they didn't want to say good-bye already. Who knew when they would all be able to see each other again.

They all decided to wait until it was dark out before they left. Hotch made them all some supper this time that consisted of pasta and salad. After it was all cleaned up, they all packed up their things and headed out to the van. They all took turns hugging Penelope good bye as Derek was occupying Jamie, who was fussing in his arms.

"Stay safe," Emily hugged her.

"I will," she assured them.

"We'll see you again soon, Kitten." Dave hugged her tightly.

"I'll call and let your family know, Morgan." Hotch told him.

"Wait, what about my brother Tim?" Penelope asked suddenly. "I had just gotten into contact with him-"

"Morgan told us when you went missing," JJ told her. "He's kept in contact with him for you."

"I gave Hotch his number so that he could call him as well as my family," Derek told her. "I'll tell you what's been going on later."

"Ok," Penelope sighed.

"We really need to go," Hotch told them all.

"Try to relinquish control," JJ told Penelope as she gestured to Derek. "Let him take care of you both."

"I'll try," she hugged each of them once again before they walked out of the house.

"I'll be back in the morning," Paul told them as he headed out behind them with the shopping list in his hand. "I'll pick up all these things for you."

"Thank you," Derek called as the door shut behind them and they heard the vehicles pull down the driveway. "So what now, Baby Girl?"

"We need to give this one a bath and get him to bed." She took Jamie from him.

"I can do that, you know." He gave her a look. "I would like to give him a bath."

"Ten minutes," she stated as she handed Jamie back over to him again.

"Ten minutes for what?"

"I give you ten minutes before you ask for help," she told him. "That's giving you a chance too, because I don't expect you to last more than five minutes."

"I'll just have to prove you wrong," he told her. "Just tell me where his shampoo and things are."

"They're in the bathroom. You'll see them on the cabinet when you walk in."

"Got it," he started up the stairs with Jamie. "I'll see you in a little while."

"Sooner than you think," she smirked as she started to clean up the downstairs.

Penelope was sitting on the couch as she listened to the commotion upstairs. She smiled as Jamie's yells got louder and she grabbed her camera before heading up the stairs. She slowly opened the bathroom door and saw Jamie kicking his feet, causing him to splash the water all over Derek.

"Smile," Penelope said and she snapped a picture of a soaking wet Derek as he turned to look at her. "Are you ready to call surrender yet?"

"Ok," he sighed. "I need your help, but I would like to try to do this on my own. So give me a hint on what I'm doing wrong."

"Open the bottom of the cabinet," she pointed.

Derek went to the one behind the door that held all the baby shampoo and lotion on the top. He opened the doors on the bottom and sighed.

"Seriously?" he looked back at her. "He wants bath toys?"

"I let him play and splash around for at least ten minutes before I even attempt to wash him," she told him. "It makes the process a lot easier."

"All right, so do you want to help me?" he asked her.

"No, I'm going to give you a chance." She smiled. "There's a hooded towel for him when you're done. Just bring him into the master bedroom when you're done so I can get him ready for bed."

"Got it," he put the squirt toys in the water and Jamie immediately calmed down and started making car noises as he splashed around.

Penelope walked into the master bedroom with everything she would need to get Jamie ready for bed; a fresh diaper and a new pair of pajamas was underneath the bottle of baby lotion, while a sippy cup of formula was sitting on top of his favorite bedtime story book. She also had his blanket and stuffed dog ready and waiting for him.

"All done," Derek came in twenty minutes later with Jamie wrapped in a hooded towel that looked like a turtle.

"Hey, honey." Penelope took him into her arms. "You're probably exhausted. There was a lot of excitement for you today."

Derek sat on the other side of the bed and watched her get him ready for bed. She fastened a diaper on him before smoothing lotion over his entire body. She got him into a two-piece pajama set that had puppies on them and sat him on the bed in between her and Derek.

"Does daddy want to read him a story?" Penelope looked at Derek.

"Absolutely," he took the book from her. "Good night Moon?"

"His favorite," she told him as she gave Jamie his cup and covered him with his blanket and set his stuffed dog beside him.

Derek snuggled closer to them as he opened the book and started to read it aloud. Jamie slowly drank his formula as he watched the pictures on the pages as he occasionally looked at Derek as he read to him. Derek closed the book after he read the last page as Penelope lifted Jamie and started off the bed.

"Does he need to be rocked to sleep?" Derek asked as he followed her.

"No," she shook her head as they walked into the nursery. "He'll fall asleep on his own. He just needs his dog and blanket; and he won't sleep without the pacifier."

Penelope kissed Jamie's head, Derek doing the same, before laying him down in the crib. She covered him with his blanket and gave him his stuffed dog, which he clutched in his one arm. She gave him his pacifier, which he placed in his mouth by himself and immediately closed his eyes. Penelope flipped on the night light and grabbed one end of the monitor before turning out the overhead light and leading Derek out of the room.

Derek followed her to the master bedroom, where they both lay down on the bed and sighed. He looked over at her and saw that she was about ready to fall asleep as well.

"And you did this by yourself all these months?" he asked her.

"It's easier now that he's older," she looked over at him. "I wished I had you here to help me every day."

"I wish I was here," he told her. "But we can talk everything out tomorrow. We both need to sleep."

"Yes," she yawned. "Will you stay in here with me tonight?"

"Only if you want me to,"

"Absolutely," she smiled at him. "I've missed our cuddles."

"What time does Jamie wake up in the mornings?"

"It depends," she sighed. "Sometimes he wakes up as early as six, but sometimes he'll sleep until almost ten."

"I will get him if he wakes up early," he told her. "You are going to get a chance to sleep in, and I'll make breakfast too."

"I'll try to sleep," she told him. "But by now, my built-in clock will wake me up."

"At least try," he smiled at her.

"I will, I promise." She snuggled closer to him as he turned out the light and he tightly held her against him all night long.

* * *

 **AN:** So what'd you all think? I hope you liked this. I will try to post the next chapter by the weekend. PLZ R&R!


	5. Chapter 5

**AN:** Another update for all of you guys. I wanted to post this before I have to rush off to work. I hope you like this. PLZ R&R!

 **Disclaimer:** See first chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

The team arrived back at the BAU at nearly four in the morning. Hotch sent the rest of them home for a few hours of sleep while he went into his office. He took out the piece of paper with the phone numbers scrawled on them and started to make two of the hardest calls in his life.

"Hi, this is Aaron Hotchner. Is this Tim Garcia?"

* * *

Derek slowly awoke as he heard a muffled cry coming from nearby. He slowly turned and saw the baby monitor lighting up with Jamie's cries. There was movement next to him as Penelope slowly sat up.

"What time is it?" she asked groggily.

"Six-thirty," he sighed as he glanced at the clock.

"Why is he awake so early?" she grumbled.

"You stay here and get some more sleep," he told her. "I'll get him."

"Are you sure?"

"Go back to sleep. We'll be fine." She nodded as she snuggled back under the covers and he walked out of the room.

Derek walked into the nursery and saw Jamie standing up in the crib with tears in his eyes as he gripped the bars of the crib with his small hands.

"Hey Little Man," Derek lifted him into his arms. "You couldn't give us a couple more hours of sleep?"

Jamie lay his head on Derek's shoulder and he patted his back soothingly. He walked the room with him until his cries subsided. He lay him down on the changing table to change his diaper and picked him back up and walked downstairs with him.

"Let's give Mama some more sleep time," Derek filled a cup with formula for him and sat with him on the couch. "Let's find something to watch for a little bit."

Derek turned on the TV and started flipping through the channels. Jamie started clapping as he stopped on a channel that had a show about dogs.

"Paw Patrol," Derek checked the program information. "You like this?"

Jamie squealed as music started playing and Derek smiled as he leaned against the back of the couch and watched his son's enjoyment.

* * *

Penelope slowly awoke and glanced at the clock. She shot up in bed as she realized that it was well past ten o'clock. She slowly climbed out of bed and started downstairs. The TV was playing cartoons, but no one was watching it. She heard noise coming from the kitchen and walked towards it.

She saw that the high chair had been moved into the room and Jamie was strapped into it as he nibbled on Cheerios and drank from his cup. Derek was at the stove flipping pancakes in a pan. He glanced back to check on Jamie and saw Penelope standing in the doorway.

"Hey Mama," he flipped the last pancake onto the awaiting plate and turned off the stove. "How'd you sleep?"

"Great," she smiled as he greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. "I didn't expect you to let me sleep so long though."

"You needed some rest," he told her. "Besides, we were fine. We watched cartoons for awhile and decided to make you breakfast."

"Thank you," she smiled as he got some plates and glasses out.

"You take these and I'll get the Little Man," Derek told her.

She took the plates as Derek pushed the high chair back out to the table. He brought the glasses out along with the carton of orange juice.

"I also made some coffee," he told her. "Would you like some?"

"Definitely," she cut up a couple pancakes and put them on Jamie's tray and he started gobbling them down.

"Here you go," Derek came out with a steaming mug for her and they sat across from each other at the table.

"Hey," she smiled at him. "This is our first meal as a family."

"You're right," he smiled. "There will be plenty more of these."

"Sounds good to me," she smiled back.

* * *

Everyone returned to the BAU around eight and immediately started going through all the information. The faster that they found out who the mole was, the faster that Garcia, Morgan and Jamie could come out of hiding. Then Garcia could be reunited with her old life and Jamie could start to have a normal life for the first time ever.

Hotch was in his office going through all the files on the Santival's yet again. He knew they were missing something. He just needed to find it. He needed to find the mole before it was too late to save Garcia. There was a knock at the door and JJ popped her head in.

"We have a problem," she told him.

"What is it?"

"We have a few guests that just arrived. I escorted them up when the front desk security called up here."

"Who is it?"

"Fran Morgan, along with Desiree and Sarah. As well as Tim Garcia with his wife and two daughters."

"I called them all last night-"

"Apparently, they didn't believe you about Derek having to go deep undercover. Fran and Tim read between the lines when you called them late last night. Tim called Fran after he hung up with you." JJ explained. "Fran told him that she sensed something was wrong. They all caught the red eye after she hung up with him. Desiree and Sarah came along to try to keep their mother in check. Tim's wife and kids refused to let him go without them."

"I'll get the team," Hotch stood up. "Bring their families into the conference room. We'll tell them everything before getting them into protective custody."

Hotch gathered up all the files that were spread out before him and headed towards the bull pen. Everyone filed into the conference room behind him as JJ followed them all in with Derek's and Penelope's family.

"I believe everyone remembers Derek's mom and sisters," Hotch started.

"And this is Penelope's brother, Tim Garcia," JJ added. "His wife Shelley, and their daughters Skylar and Jazzlynn."

"Agent Hotchner," Fran Morgan started. "When I got your call last night, I knew there was something off. If my son was going undercover, he would've called me himself to tell me."

"I'm sorry," Desiree spoke up. "We tried to talk her out of coming out here, but she was very adamant."

"We tried to convince her that Derek would call her if he could." Sarah added.

"It was very last minute. He barely had any time-" Hotch started.

"Hotch," JJ started to close the blinds. "We should tell her. She's a mother. She'll know if we lie to her."

"All right," Hotch called out to an agent that was passing by the door. "Anderson, these are Garcia's nieces. Why don't you show them her office?"

"Sure," he started to lead them out.

"I want to stay," Thirteen-year-old Skylar refused to leave the room.

"Sky, we promise that we will tell you." Tim told his daughter. "We just want to know what's going on so that we can prepare you guys."

"Your Aunt Pen's office is really cool," JJ smiled at the teenager. "We sometimes refer to it as the Bat Cave."

"Why?" Seven-year-old Jazzlynn asked.

"Why don't you go see?"

"Ok," Skylar followed after her little sister as they followed after Agent Anderson.

Hotch opened one of the files on top of the pile in front of him as JJ closed and locked the door.

"What's going on?" Fran looked at all of them.

"You can't just call me and tell me that my sister was found and not give me anymore details." Tim added.

"You all had better sit down," JJ told them and they eventually complied.

"It started early yesterday morning," Hotch looked down at his file. "I received a call from one of my contacts in the US Marshall Service. He called in our help with a witness."

"What's this have to do with Derek and Penelope?" Sarah asked.

"We'll get there," Rossi spoke up. "It's just going to take a bit to explain."

"There is a crime family here in Quantico-The Santival's-no one's ever been able to pin anything on them." Hotch started again. "Over a year ago, there was a witness that came forward after witnessing one of them commit a murder. This witness was immediately put in protective custody."

"So this is the deep undercover assignment of Derek's?" Desiree asked.

"We're getting there, we promise." Emily assured them.

"With only a month until the trial, my friend knew that the Santival's would be coming after the witness with whatever they could." Hotch read through all of his notes. "A car was sent for us and we went on a long drive to meet this witness. When we finally arrived, we were all shocked when we met the witness."

"Why? Who was the witness?" Shelley spoke up.

"The witness was our very own Agent Garcia," Hotch revealed as he pushed the file in front of the group before him. "Who as you know has been missing for over a year, without an explanation to any of us."

"Oh my god," Tim and Fran exclaimed at the same time.

"Penelope," Fran smiled at the picture before her.

"Sis," Tim mumbled.

"Derek knew that there was a good reason why she disappeared." Sarah sighed.

"I can't believe that she went through all this." Shelley stated as she started to run her hands down her husband's back as he stared down at his sister's picture.

"He never stopped looking for answers," Desiree added. "How happy was he to finally see her?"

"It was an emotional reunion for all of us," Emily told them.

"So this is his undercover assignment?" Fran asked. "He's protecting Penelope?"

"She's part of it," JJ spoke up. "I think we should tell them everything."

"Are you sure?" Reid spoke up finally. "It might put them both in grave danger."

"They deserve to know."

"All right," Hotch turned to Emily. "I saw you taking pictures with your phone yesterday. Do you have it with you?"

"Yes," she took it out of her pocket. "I put them in a password-protected file; just in case."

"What else is going on?" Tim asked.

"I'm sure that Derek's told you everything about her disappearance," JJ looked at all of them. "Especially the last time that he talked to her. That she told him that she had some big news for him."

"Definitely," Fran nodded. "He kept going over and over it again."

"This was the news," Emily placed her phone in front of Derek's and Penelope's families.

The five of them crowded around the phone and saw an image of a small boy with a mixed skin tone just like Sarah, Desiree and Derek had. They glanced up at everyone and saw them all smiling.

"His name is Jamie," JJ told them. "His full name is James Derek Morgan, and he's your grandson and nephew."

"Oh my god," Sarah looked back down at the picture.

"He looks just like Derek did when he was little," Fran commented.

"There are more pictures on there," Emily told them. "Just swipe to the left."

"My sister had a kid," Tim mumbled. "She delivered him surrounded by strangers?"

"There was a woman that traveled with them," Hotch told him. "According to my friend she was a midwife, nanny and nurse all rolled into one."

"So Derek is staying with both of them?" Desiree asked.

"We did approach him with the option of bringing Jamie back here while Penelope stayed behind," Hotch spoke up. "But we knew that Penelope would never agree to that. Jamie is very attached to her."

"I can imagine," Sarah saw a group photo of the three of them sitting on a couch together.

"And Derek refused to leave his new family," Rossi told them.

"So how old is my nephew?" Desiree asked

"Ten months," JJ told them. "She was only a few weeks along when she disappeared."

"How is Derek with him?" Fran asked.

"He wanted to do everything for him-to give Penelope a break-but she's really reluctant in giving up control."

"I can imagine after being the only parent for months."

"We were taking bets on when Derek would admit defeat and ask for help," Emily told them. "Penelope was adamant that it would happen at bath time."

"I see him in a Lightning McQueen shirt," Sarah smiled.

"Garcia says that Cars is his favorite movie," Reid told them. "He watches it at least once a day."

"This is him with his security blankets," Emily showed them one of the last pictures where Jamie was clutching his blanket and stuffed dog to him. "Pen says he won't sleep without them. The blanket has footballs on it."

"Of course it does," Fran smiled. "He's going to be just like his daddy."

"We can talk about all this more later," Hotch spoke up. "With you three in town now, we'll have to put you in protective custody as well."

"How bad is this situation that they're in?" Tim asked.

"Well she was a witness to a mob hit," Rossi told them. "It's bad no matter how you look at it."

"We are doing everything we can though," Hotch told them. "We are working closely with the US Marshall Service. My friend thinks there's a mole on their side feeding information about Penelope's whereabouts to the Santival family."

"But we will do everything we can to protect the three of them," they all looked up at the new voice and saw Paul standing there.

"Paul, this is Agent Morgan's mother and sisters. And Penelope's brother and sister-in-law."

"Nice to meet you," Paul smiled at them. "I've been in charge of Penelope's safety; and Jamie's after he was born."

"Can you tell us about-"

"I can tell you everything you want to know about your grandson and nephew," he started. "But you should be informed of everything pertaining to this case."

"All right…." They all listened as Paul set another file down and started telling Derek's and Penelope's family what all had happened to Penelope for the past year.

* * *

Derek and Penelope slowly ate their breakfast as they talked about random things. Derek helped Jamie eat as Penelope smiled at the sight of the two of them together. They had just finished eating when they heard the front door open.

"It's just me," Paul came into them with some grocery bags. "I was able to find everything on the list."

"And something more, I see." Derek saw the teddy bear sticking out of the top of one of the bags.

"This bag is actually not from me," he told them as he placed all the bags in the kitchen. "Both of your families are at the BAU right now."

"What?" they both looked shocked.

"Hotch said he'd call my mom and tell her I was deep undercover." Derek told him.

"Apparently she felt that something was wrong."

"Unbelievable," Derek mumbled. "Wait, you said my family was here. Does that mean-"

"Your sisters are here too. They only came to keep your mother in check though."

"Which they couldn't," Derek sighed.

"You said our families," Penelope started.

"Your brother Tim and his family are here as well." Paul told her.

"So do they know…" Penelope started.

"They've been told everything," Paul told them.

"So they all know about Jamie?"

"They are very excited to meet him," Paul told her. "But they also understand that they can't until you guys are safe. Until then, they gave me some money to buy him some things when I went to the store for you."

"Uh-oh," Derek mumbled as he cleared the dirty dishes and Penelope got Jamie cleaned off.

Penelope put all the groceries away as Derek glanced in the bag that was from both of their families. Penelope glanced at him as he sighed deeply.

"Well?" she asked as she shifted Jamie on her hip.

"It is filled to the brim with toys and books."

"Mrs. Morgan told me to tell you that you should expect a whole lot more when you guys can come back home." Paul told them.

"Well let's go see what they got our Little Man," Derek took the bag as they started back into the living room.

"I actually have to leave again," Paul told them as they settled onto the couch.

"Already?" Penelope looked back at him. "You just got back."

"I got a call from the DA. He wants a meeting today." he told them. "I just wanted to make sure you got the groceries you needed. Besides, it'll give you all some much-needed family time."

"I have a question," Derek looked at him. "I know we're under protective custody, but are we allowed to walk outside? Just in the backyard?"

"You'll need to alert the armed guards," Paul told him. "So they know where you're at and they can still keep you under surveillance."

"They won't give us any privacy at all?"

"I'll tell them to give you a hundred yards, but no more than that."

"I'll take it," Derek stated.

"All right, I'm leaving now," Paul told them. "I'll keep you both updated on what I find out in this meeting."

"Thank you," Derek told him as he walked out the door again. "Come on Sweetness. Let's see how much Jamie was spoiled by his Nana Morgan and his aunts and uncle."

"You got it Handsome," she smiled as she joined her two men on the couch as Derek started pulling items out of the bag.

"Ooh, The Velveteen Rabbit…" Penelope took the book out of the bottom of the bag. "I've wanted to get this for him for so long. Tim must've gotten this for him. It was my favorite book as a kid."

"It was mine too," Derek told her as he glanced around at the floor littered with toys as Jamie sat in the middle of it all. "I hate to imagine how our Christmases will be."

"Let them spoil him," Penelope told him as Jamie started to fuss. "Uh-oh."

Derek looked on the floor where Jamie was playing with all his new toys and saw him crawling over to them. He picked him up and cradled him against his chest as he lay his head down on his shoulder.

"I'm guessing that it's time for a nap," Derek looked at her and she nodded. "Do I do anything special for naptime?"

"Nope," she shook her head. "Just make sure he has a fresh diaper, and do the same thing we did when we put him down last night."

"I will be back momentarily," he walked upstairs with him and Penelope started putting all the new toys away.

Derek came back down ten minutes later and sat beside her on the couch. She lay her head on his shoulder and he smiled as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Did you get him down all right?" she asked.

"He conked right out," he told her. "How long does he sleep during the day?"

"A couple hours," she looked up at him. "So you never told me what exactly happened with Tim when I disappeared. I assume that everything is ok between you two since he took his family to the BAU with your family."

"We stayed in contact with each other," he told her. "We talked at least twice a week. He wanted to stay on top of our investigation about your disappearance, and I wanted to stay informed about his family life so that I could tell you once you were found."

"And the rest of my brothers?"

"I'm not sure if I should tell you," he sighed.

"Why? How bad is it?"

"When Tim called to tell them that you had disappeared, they weren't surprised. Your oldest brother, Mitchell, he told him that it's your signature move. That when things get bad, you run away."

"Oh," she mumbled.

"But Tim and I didn't listen to them," he assured her. "We knew that you didn't just run away. We knew there was a good reason."

"I'm glad that you never gave up on finding me," she smiled up at him.

"Baby Girl," Derek sighed deeply, knowing that the time has come.

"I'm guessing that you want to talk about us."

"Yes," he nodded. "It's nothing bad. It's just-I'd like to know what's going to happen when all this is over."

"What do you mean?"

"When all this is over-when we're all safe again, and you and Jamie can come out of hiding-I'd like you both to move in with me."

"Really?"

"Baby Girl, that day you disappeared- that night, I was going to ask you. I knew that I wanted to be with you as much as possible." He kissed her deeply. "We can be a family; you, me and Jamie. And hopefully, we'll add onto the family soon."

"How much have you thought about this?"

"Since you disappeared; before actually. So what do you say?"

"I would love to move in with you," she smiled. "Jamie needs to be with his daddy. And I want to wake up to you beside me every morning."

They settled back against the couch and continued to talk about what would happen when they got back to Quantico.

* * *

 **AN:** So what'd you all think? I hope you liked this. PLZ R&R!


	6. Chapter 6

**AN:** Another update for all of you guys. It's a little short, but I wanted to get something posted for you guys this week. Hope you like it. PLZ R&R!

 **Disclaimer:** See first chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

Derek was keeping Jamie entertained in the living room while Penelope worked in the kitchen. The guard at the front door gave them the all clear to have a picnic in the backyard so Penelope was packing up a basket of food for all of them. Derek looked up from reading Jamie a story as Penelope came back into them.

"All ready," she smiled at them. "If you want to grab some toys for him, I'll let the guard know."

"You got it," Derek closed the book and put Jamie's shoes on his feet.

Derek walked into the kitchen with Jamie in his arms as he spotted Penelope standing in front of the door leading to the backyard. The door opened suddenly and a guard nodded his head at them.

"All clear," he told them.

"Thank you," Derek told him as Penelope walked out with a blanket and their basket full of food.

"Not a problem," the guard disappeared behind some shrubs as Penelope spread the blanket out and set the food out on it.

"Fresh air feels so good," Penelope breathed in deeply. "It has been so long-"

"Really? You're never allowed to just sit outside before you get to a new safe house?"

"I never really thought about it," she handed him a sandwich. "I guess I didn't know what I was missing."

"When we can leave all this behind, we are going to spend an entire day outside."

"Oh yeah, what will we do?"

"Anything you want," he smiled at her. "We'll go to the zoo, take a stroll through the park, watch an outdoor theatre production, anything you want."

"I will hold you to that," she reached over to kiss him deeply on the lips.

"Don't start something that you're not prepared to finish," Derek breathed.

"Then I think we should stop now or risk traumatizing our son."

"Right," Derek pulled away from her and glanced at Jamie, who was busy eating some of his snacks. "We'll finish this later."

"Looking forward to it," she smirked at him.

Derek spent the rest of the afternoon trying to bond with Jamie and getting reacquainted with Penelope. When they were all done eating, Penelope relaxed as she lay stretched out on the blanket as Derek held Jamie's hands as they slowly walked around exploring the yard.

* * *

When the sun started to go down, Derek packed up the remains of their picnic and they all went back inside. Derek made them up some popcorn and Penelope selected a movie for them all to watch. They all got settled on the couch for their first family movie night and Derek smiled at her.

Derek startled awake and looked around him in confusion. He was still in an upright position as he saw Penelope resting her head against Derek's shoulder with her legs curled up on the couch beside her. Jamie was on his other side fast asleep against him as he clutched at his dad's shirt.

"I'm never letting go," he stated to the quiet room.

"Did you say something, Handsome?" Penelope said softly beside him and he looked down and saw her starting to stir.

"I said that I never want to let go of this moment," he smiled at her as she looked up at him.

"I guess we didn't last long after the movie started," She let out a big yawn as she noticed the blue screen on the TV.

"We were all exhausted from the great day we had."

"We should probably get him into bed," Penelope noticed Jamie slowly sitting up.

"I'll get him," he told her. "I'll meet you in the bedroom."

"Can we finish what we started earlier?" she smiled at him.

"When he's asleep," he smiled back at her as they all made their way upstairs.

* * *

JJ started into Hotch's office as she saw him going through a thick file. She quietly walked into his office and he looked up at her.

"Did you get their families settled into the hotel all right?" he asked her.

"They're fine," she assured him. "When I left, they were browsing Amazon for things they can spoil Jamie with."

"I almost feel sorry for the three of them," Hotch commented. "Jamie will be spoiled beyond belief and Penelope and Derek won't know where to put it all."

"I think Penelope will welcome it. She wanted to tell everyone for months and months…" JJ sighed. "I still can't believe that she went through everything that she did. To not be able to contact anyone-especially after reconnecting with her brother-and being pregnant through it all and not being able to tell the father."

"I know," Hotch sighed. "We all knew that Penelope was very strong and independent before we knew what happened to her. This whole situation just proves that."

"At least Derek gets to spend some quality time with both of them-"

"Hotch," Prentiss rushed into the room with Reid and Rossi following her.

"What's the matter?" he looked at their worried faces.

"We had the analyst research everyone that has helped protect Garcia," Reid told him. "It's a long list-but she found something interesting."

"What'd she find?" JJ asked.

"Hotch, your US Marshall friend, Paul is related to the Santival family," Emily revealed.

* * *

Derek walked back into the master bedroom after getting Jamie settled for the night. He smiled at the sight he saw; Penelope was curled up on the bed fast asleep. He slowly climbed onto the other side and gently kissed her forehead. She stirred and smiled over at him as her eyes slowly opened.

"Sorry, I guess I fell asleep."

"Go back to sleep," he told her. "We can make up for lost time some other day."

"But-"

"You're tired, you need your rest." She nodded and her eyes slid closed again as he turned out the light and snuggled up to her.

* * *

"You don't look surprised," Emily looked at Hotch after she and Reid revealed what they had found out.

"I know all about Paul's background," Hotch revealed to the stunned room. "I'm the one that helped get him into law enforcement."

"You knew?"

"Does Garcia know?" Reid asked.

"He said he told her at their first meeting," Hotch picked up his phone and dialed a number. "I'll get him down here so that he can explain everything to you."

* * *

Derek stirred in his sleep and turned over and glanced at the clock. What had woken him up at four in the morning? Then he heard it; crying in the distance. At first he thought it was Jamie, but when he looked at the monitor it was silent. He turned back over and saw Penelope starting to struggle in her sleep.

"Penelope," he started to shake her when she started to cry out. "Wake up, Baby Girl. Open your eyes."

"No!" he saw her start to cry.

"I'm right here," he took her in his arms and held her tightly. "You're safe."

It took a few minutes of Derek tightly holding her as she continued to struggle against him. Her body finally relaxed and he released her as she slowly opened her eyes and looked around.

"Are you ok now?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she said softly. "I had a nightmare, didn't I?"

"Is there anything you would like to tell me?"

"Yes," she whispered as she started to shake. "Can you get me some water first?"

"I'll be right back," he started out of the room and downstairs, where he was met by the concerned face of Paul.

"I heard a noise and came to check it out," he told him.

"We're fine now." Derek told him.

"Did she have a nightmare?" he asked him.

"You know-"

"It wasn't my place to tell you. She made me promise that I wouldn't tell any of you. That she would tell you in her own time."

"I told her that I would be right back," Derek went into the kitchen to fill a glass with water.

"Make sure she takes one of these when she's done telling you," Paul handed him a prescription bottle. "They're for anxiety."

"How long has she been taking these?"

"Not long, and she's only taken a few. They're for her to take when needed."

"All right," Derek took the pill bottle before heading back upstairs.

He silently opened the door of the nursery to check on Jamie, and smiled as he saw him still sleeping soundly. He closed the door gently and walked back into the master bedroom. He spotted Penelope sitting up in bed and still shaking.

"Here you go, Baby Girl." He gave her the glass of water and she took a few big gulps. "Now what is this all about?"

"When I told you guys that the Santival's came close to finding me a few times, that wasn't the whole truth," she revealed. "They actually did find me and got into the places where we were."

"What?"

"It was always goons who worked for the Santival's," she spoke softly. "They got ahold of Jamie first-used him against me-threatened to kill him in front of me unless I did what they asked."

"And what did they ask you to do?"

"To recant my statement. That I tell the police that I made a mistake. Tell them that I didn't witness anything."

"Go on,"

"The last time they found us was so much worse," she slowly took another drink of water. "Jamie was only a few months old so I still had the crib in the room with me. I woke up to someone pinning me to the bed…"

"Baby Girl," he pulled her against him and held her tightly. "It's ok."

"I didn't make any noise," she whispered. "Jamie was sleeping and I didn't want to wake him. I thought they would do something to him if he started to cry."

"Did they do something to you?"

"No," she wiped her eyes. "One of the guards managed to break down the door before they could do anything."

"You're safe now," he assured her.

"Am I?" she looked up at him.

"Yes," he kissed her forehead. "And I'm here to protect both of you now."

"There's something else you should know. It's about Paul."

"What about him?"

"Before I tell you, I want you to know that I trust him. He has been there protecting me from the beginning. I trust him with both mine and Jamie's lives."

"What do you need to tell me about him?"

"Paul goes by the last name of Samuels, but his real last name is Santival."

"What?"

"Luis Santival is his uncle. I'll tell you the whole story later, but I thought you should know."

"And you really trust him?"

"I really do," she assured him.

"If you trust him, then I trust him too." He told her before reaching for the pill bottle that Paul had given him before he came upstairs. "Paul thinks you might need one of these."

"I don't like taking those," she mumbled.

"Why not?"

"I just don't."

"Do they help you?"

"Yes, but they make me too sleepy."

"Seeing as it's the middle of the night and we both should be asleep, I think you should take one."

"What if I have more nightmares?" she asked softly.

"Then I will be right here with you," he opened the bottle and shook one of the pills out and held it out to her.

"Ok fine," she took the pill and used the rest of the glass of water and swallowed it down.

They both got settled into bed again and Derek held her in his arms as she rested her head on his chest. He slowly started to run his fingers through her hair until he felt her relax and heard her breathing even out. He sighed deeply as he gently kissed her cheek and thought about what all she had told him. He wondered how much more she had to tell him.

He heard a soft knock at the door and slowly untangled himself from Penelope. He silently padded across the room and opened the door and saw Paul standing before him.

"Hey, I just got a call from Hotch. He wants me to meet everyone at the BAU. I think your team found out something incriminating about me."

"The same thing that Penelope told me a little bit ago?"

"So she told you," he sighed. "Listen-"

"Look she hasn't told me the whole story yet, but if Penelope trusts you then so do I. Just don't make me regret it."

"Understood," Paul nodded. "I'll call you in a few hours to check in."

"Got it," Derek closed the door again as Paul started back downstairs and he climbed back into bed beside Penelope and held her tightly in his arms.

* * *

 **AN:** Cliffhanger! So what'd you all think of this turn of events? How do you think the team will react to Paul now? Hope you liked this latest chapter. PLZ R&R!


	7. Chapter 7

**AN:** Another update for you guys. I hope you like this. PLZ R&R!

 **Disclaimer:** See first chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

Hotch silently walked into the conference room and saw the rest of the team, minus two, sitting around the table. He wasn't surprised that they were all there;even if it was three in the morning. He had called Paul a few hours ago requesting a meeting as soon as possible.

"No Paul yet?" JJ asked him.

"Not yet," he told them. "He's on his way though."

"I'm here," Paul walked in followed by Derek's and Penelope's families. "I picked these guys up first. I figured you all needed to hear this all at once."

"Where are your girls?" Hotch looked at Tim.

"That Agent Anderson took them down to the bull pen to sit at Derek's desk," Tim told him. "Jazzlynn is looking for hidden snacks, and Skylar is trying to find games on his computer."

"We can get started then."

"We just want answers," Emily stated.

"What's going on?" Fran asked.

"Earlier today, Agents Prentiss and Reid discovered that Paul here-"

"I'll tell them," Paul stopped him. "I owe everyone that much."

Everyone sat around the round table as Paul placed a file down in front of him. He sighed as he looked at everyone.

"For the past several years I have been going by the last name of Samuels, but for the first sixteen years of my life my last name was Santival."

"What?" Tim glared at him.

"Everyone let him explain before you all jump to conclusions." Hotch told them.

"Growing up, I was a little naïve," Paul started. "I believed that my family actually sold imported coffee beans. There was a warehouse that I visited constantly. I figured out what kind of business my family was actually in when I was ten. That was when my parents were killed and I was sent to live with my uncle and his family."

"Did your uncle have your parents killed?" JJ asked him.

"It was never proven, but I know that he did." Paul looked at them. "About a week before they were killed, I overheard a conversation they were having. My dad promised my mom that he would walk away from the family business no matter what it cost him. Several days later, they were dead."

"So you grew up with your uncle?" Fran asked.

"My only thought was that all I had to do was get through the next eight years and I could leave it all behind me." Paul told them. "That way of thinking stopped when I was sixteen. I came home from baseball practice and heard shouting coming from my uncle's study. I crept down the hall and heard my uncle in a meeting with one of his associate's. They were planning a job."

"I bet I can guess what kind of job," Rossi said.

"A few days later, I heard of a car bombing. The victim was my best friend's mother. Apparently, she went to the authorities about removing me from my uncle's house. Everytime I looked my friend in the eye, I felt horrible. That's when I decided that I needed to take a stand. And that's where Hotch comes in."

"He contacted the bureau with information that should've put him away for the rest of his life," Hotch spoke up.

"Should've put him away?" Tim asked.

"Luis' lawyers argued that Paul was a distraught teenager that was finally coming to terms with his parents' deaths."

"They made me out to be a demented kid who made up stories to get attention," Paul told them.

"So what, did they just send you back to your uncle's house?" Emily asked.

"Actually, Hotch got me out. He and the rest of the bureau tracked down my mother's family. Turns out that they tried to take over custody of me after my parents' funeral, but my uncle blackmailed them. So one night, I packed a bag with a few meager belongings and I snuck out of my uncle's house and met Hotch a few miles down the road in some woods on the edge of town."

"We had a passport along with everything he would need for a new identity. He moved in with his mother's sister and her husband and their kids." Hotch told them. "He was to the outside world, the new foster child of the Samuels'."

"Your uncle never looked for you?" Shelley asked.

"He did; in the US. We weren't in the US though. We lived in Austrailia for the remainder of my high school and college years." Paul told them. "I didn't show up in the states aagin until after I graduated with honors from college with a major in criminal justice. I joined the police academy and worked my way up through the ranks until I was able to join the Marshall Service so that I could have a hand in putting away people like my uncle and his associates."

"But your main target is your uncle." Desiree spoke up.

"He deserves to pay for what he did to my parents, but I haven't been able to pin anything on him because he always covered his tracks well. Up until now anyway. Hopefully with Penelope's testimony, he'll finally be able to be put away."

"Does my sister know all this?" Tim asked.

"I told her a couple weeks after she was coherent enough to understand. She was a little apprehensive at first, keeping a close eye on me and whatever I did for the next several months. I'm sure she wished she had her computers with her so she could do a background check on me."

"That's our Garcie," JJ smiled.

"I finally convinced her when I stepped up and protected her from all of these instances," Paul placed a file down in front of them all. "Penelope has given me permission to tell you all about this."

"What the-" Emily opened up the folder and gasped. "The Santival's found her?"

"On several occasions," Paul informed them. "The only reason that I didn't tell you sooner is because she made me promise not to. But before I picked you all up, she sent me a message telling me that it was ok to tell you all since Agent Morgan was informed last night about everything."

"What happened last night?" Reid asked.

"She had a nightmare, and after it was over she was forced to reveal it to Agent Morgan. Along with the fact that she's on medication-as she needs it-for anxiety."

"Oh my god," JJ looked at one of the reports. "They attempted to sexually assault her when Jamie was only a few months old."

"They used Jamie against her. Threatened to kill him in front of her."

"This report says that she stayed quiet because she didn't want to wake Jamie who was sleeping in the crib just a few feet away." Sarah read through it.

"I need to take this," Paul told them as his phone started to ring and he walked to the corner of the room.

"I can't believe that she went through all this," Tim scanned through the reports. "I haven't seen her in person since she was eighteen. I am never letting her out of my sight after I see her again."

"I think Morgan will have some arguments to that," Rossi told him. "He feels the same way I imagine."

"Can I use one of the computers here to video chat with my three jerk brothers?" Tim asked. "It's secure right?"

"It's completely secure," JJ placed her laptop in front of him and opened up the video chat icon. "Call them a few names for all of us."

"Count on it," Tim put in some information and three separate video boxes popped up on the screen.

"Tim?" a voice came out. "What's going on?"

"Where are you at?" another voice asked.

"I'm in the BAU at the FBI headquarters in Quantico." Tim informed them all.

"You're visiting Penelope."

"She's not here. She's been in protective custody since she stopped calling me and my family almost two years ago."

"What are you talking about?" Mitchell asked.

"The reason why she stopped trying to contact all of you is because she was a witness to a mob hit and they immediately put her in protective cuatody," Tim took his phone out and pulled up a picture and held it up to the camera. "By the way, this is our nephew Jamie. Her son with Derek Morgan. She delivered him surrounded by US Marshalls. You three should feel absolutely horrible."

Everyone listened to Tim's conversation as he continued to yell and call them names. Paul came back over to them all as he hung up the phone.

"I have to go now," Tim spoke into the computer. "It looks there's going to be some news delivered about our sister. You all can go to hell!"

Tim closed the laptop and handed it back over to JJ, who smiled at him.

"Feel better?" she asked.

"Maybe a little," he smirked as they all faced Paul.

"That was the DA," Paul told them. "There's some good news and bad news."

"Uh-oh," Desiree mumbled.

"The good news is that the trial has been moved up-to next week."

"Which means that the bad news is that Garcia is in even more danger once the Santival's are informed," Rossi stated. "What's the plan?"

"They are already making plans to move them to another location," Paul told them.

"Where will they be moved to?" Reid asked him.

""They want to send them to another safe house, but honestly I think they'll be safer here surrounded by federal agents."

"I think so too," Hotch told them. "Bring the three of them here."

"I'm on it," Paul took out his phone and dialed a number. "Agent Morgan, how is everything going?"

Fran listened to a one-sided conversation as she yearned to talk to her only son. Paul glanced at her as she stood close to him to try to hear her son's voice. He shook his head at her, knowing that she wanted to try to talk to Derek.

"I'll be there in a couple hours, so pack up the main necessities for the three of you and be ready for immediate transport." Paul hung up and glanced at Fran. "I know how much you want to talk to him, but we can't risk anything at this point."

"I know you're right," she sighed. "I just want to see my Baby Boy."

"Well I'm going to go get all three of them and bring them back here so you can see them soon." Paul walked out of the room.

"I'm going to go check on the girls," Shelley told them.

"I'm coming," Tim stood up as well.

"We'll come with you too," Sarah told them. "Come on, Ma."

"We can ask them to tell stories about Penelope," Desiree added.

"All right," Fran smiled as she followed them all out of the room.

"I know we're all worried," Hotch told the rest of the team. "But soon enough, they will be here where we can protect them all."

"Excuse me sir?" there was a knock at the door and they saw a woman standing in the doorway.

"Yes, what is it Agent Stevens?" Hotch looked at Tina, the technical analyst that had been Penelope's replacement since she disappeared.

"I finished the back ground checks on all the people responsible for Agent Garcia's protection. They all check out; except for Paul and a woman named Shannon."

"Shannon?" JJ stood up. "She was the woman who helped Garcia deliver Jamie. Garcia said she was a lifesaver for her."

"Well apparently Shannon McCalister doesn't exist." Tina told them. "I ran face recognition software and came back with a hit."

"So who is she?" Emily asked.

"Her name is Stella Miller; her maiden name is Santival. She is Luis' youngest daughter, and Paul's cousin."

* * *

Derek came into the living area and smiled as he spotted Penelope sitting on the couch with Jamie sitting on her lap. She was reading a book to him as cartoons were playing on TV. He silently sat beside them as she finished reading him the story.

"How are you doing, Baby Girl?" he asked her for what seemed like the twentieth time since she got up that morning.

"I'm fine," she sighed. "Derek-"

"I'm sorry, I'm hovering. I just worry about you both."

"I know you do," she took his hand. "But I'm fine. If I wasn't, you would be the first to know. Even if I tried to hide it from you, I know for a fact that you would be able to see through it."

"Yes, I would." He smiled at her as he took out the cell phone that Paul had given him as it went off. "Yeah? What?"

Penelope listened to his side of the conversation and she could tell that it was Paul about their case. Derek hung up and looked at her.

"What is it?" she asked him.

"The trial has been moved up to next week," he informed her. "Paul wants to relocate us immediately."

"Another safe house," she sighed.

"Actually he thinks we'll be safer at the BAU."

"What?"

"He wants us to pack up just the necessities for the three of us and be ready for him when he arrives to transport us."

"I'll start on our bags," Penelope stood up with Jamie in her arms. "I'm a pro at this part."

"I'll take care of the things down here," he told her as she headed upstairs with Jamie.

Penelope got Jamie's bags packed quickly and set to work on her own. She was almost done when she felt someone grab her from behind and cover her mouth.

* * *

 **AN:** So what'd you all think? Another cliffhanger! Did the Santival's find Penelope again? Will they silence Penelope for good this time. PLZ R&R!


	8. Chapter 8

**AN:** Another update for all of you. I hope you like this. PLZ R&R!

 **Disclaimer:** See first chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

Rossi, Reid, JJ and Emily was reading through Agent Stevens' report as Hotch picked up his phone. They all glanced at each other as Hotch started yelling into the phone.

"I was with Paul the last couple of hours. He never called anyone. The only time that he used his phone was when he got a call from the DA. You need to send everyone that you can spare out to the safe house. We are all on our way."

"What's going on?" Rossi asked him as he hung up the phone.

"Shannon-AKA-Stella checked into Paul's office like she's done from the beginning of her assignment. She spoke to one of his colleagues. She told him that Paul called her earlier and told her to go to the safe house to stay with Penelope."

"So she's already on her way out there." JJ stated.

"If she's not already there," Reid added.

"Let's hurry and get out there."

"We need to get to them before it's too late," Rossi said.

Tim and Fran looked up as they heard some commotion. They spotted Agent Hotchner and the rest of his team heading out as they fastened their vests over their chests.

"What's going on?" Fran asked as they all headed down the stairs and towards the glass doors.

"We don't want to worry you, but we think that someone has already gotten to the safe house." Hotch told them. "We will tell you more once we know, but we need to get out there immediately."

"But-"

"Agent Anderson," Hotch saw him working at his desk. "Keep a close eye on Agent Morgan's and Garcia's families. I will call once we have more information."

"Yes, sir." He nodded at him.

They all watched the team rush out the doors and looked at each other.

"Dad?" Skylar looked up at him. "Is Aunt Penelope going to be ok?"

"I hope so kiddo," he held her tightly. "I really hope so."

* * *

Penelope struggled in the tight embrace until she realized that she recognized the arms wrapped around her. She looked up as she stared into Derek's eyes. He turned her around as he took his hand away from her mouth.

"What-"

"Quiet," he whispered.

"What's going on?" she whispered back.

"There's someone here."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. I saw them lurking in the bushes outside."

"Maybe it's Paul."

"It didn't look like him," Derek looked around the room. "Where's Jamie?"

"I left him in the crib with some toys while I packed up our bags."

"Let's go, stay close." He took her hand and kept her behind him as they slowly walked out of the room and into the nursery.

Derek checked out the room before they both went in and shut the door behind them. Penelope went to Jamie and picked him up out of the crib and held him tightly against her. All of a sudden the lights went out and Derek held onto his family tightly.

"What are we going to do?" Penelope whispered.

"I'm going to try to get us out of here," he told her. "But I want you to promise me something."

"What?"

"If things start to happen, you do whatever I tell you to do. If I tell you to run, don't look back. The most important thing is getting you and Jamie out of danger."

"What about you?"

"I'm always careful. I will do everything that I can to get back to my family."

"Ok, I promise I'll do whatever you tell me to."

"Good," he started to open the door. "Just stay behind me."

* * *

The ream raced towards the safe house as Rossi kept trying to call Paul, but continued to get no answer. Hotch's phone went off and he took it out and swore.

"What is it?" Emily asked.

"I just got a text from the phone that we gave Morgan. It says, '911'. We told him to only send that if someone was in the house."

"Paul," Rossi spoke into his phone. "Finally, where are you?"

The others listened to his side of the conversation as they neared the safe house.

"All right. Be careful. We're on our way. We should be there in about ten minutes."

"What'd he say?" JJ asked as he hung up the phone.

"He just got to the safe house and all the lights are off. I told him what was going on and he said he was heading into the house to check it out."

"Did you tell him that it's probably his cousin?"

"I think we should save that bit of news when everything settles down." They all nodded.

* * *

Derek reached the bottom step with Penelope behind him as he saw the door slowly opening. He raised his gun as a figure came into view.

"It's me," they heard Paul's voice. "Your team is on their way."

"So they know who the mole is."

"It's Shannon," he informed them.

"What?" Penelope gasped.

"Very impressive," they all heard a voice coming from the kitchen. "For FBI, I expected you to figure it out a lot sooner."

"Run Garcia!" Derek demanded. "Get both of you to safety!"

Derek swore when he saw her run back up the stairs and the gun fired started.

* * *

Hotch pulled into the drive that led up to the safe house. He turned out the headlights as they spotted Paul's vehicle. They silently got out of the SUV and crept around the side of the house.

"The electricity has been cut," Reid informed them as he saw the circuit box open.

"Our main priority is to get Garcia and Jamie to safety," Hotch told them. "Morgan can take care of himself."

They all started up the steps to the back door as they heard gunfire. They all rushed inside with their guns out as the gunfire ended just as quickly as it started. They slowly made their way through the kitchen and spotted a couple of bodies. They kept themselves alert as they heard some shuffling coming from the front room.

"Freeze!" Several voices rang out.

"This is SSA Agent Hotchner with the FBI. Lower your weapons."

"Hotch?" a soft voice sounded.

"Morgan?" he flipped on his light.

He surveyed the room and saw Morgan and Paul slowly crawling out from the space under the stairs. They both had blood on their foreheads as they blinked their eyes to try to focus.

"Are you guys all right?" Rossi asked them.

"Yeah," Paul told him.

"Medics are en route." Reid told them. "Who is the other victim?"

"I believe it's Shannon's husband."

"Paul," Hotch started. "Her real name is Stella. Her married name is Miller. She's your cousin. I believe she was a toddler when you saw her last."

"What?"

"Morgan, where's Garcia?" Emily asked.

"When Shannon-or Stella-came in, I told her to take Jamie and run. But I saw her run upstairs, so I don't know where she is now or if she's hurt." Derek explained.

"Come on," JJ started up the stairs.

"There's a panel inside the master bedroom closet," Paul called after them. "She's had an emergency escape plan since Jamie was born. If you don't find a black bookbag, then they made it out."

Reid followed behind the girls as Rossi stayed with Hotch to wait for the medics. JJ searched the nursery just in case while Emily and Reid went into the master bedroom. Reid found the closet and searched frantically.

"There's no bookbag," Reid said as JJ came into the room.

The girls watched as Reid found the loose panel and kicked it through. He took out his flashlight and shone it into the darkness.

"It looks like an escape tunnel," Reid slowly crawled through.

"Do you see anything?" Emily called.

"It looks like it leads outside," he called back to them. "I'm going to follow it and see if I can find Garcia and Jamie."

"Be careful Spence." JJ told him. "We'll meet you in the backyard."

They rushed down the stairs and saw that the medics had arrived and were attending to Morgan and Paul.

"Did you find them?" Derek asked

"Reid's following an escape path that seems to lead outside," Emily told him before they rushed out the back door.

"We will find them, Morgan." Hotch told him. "We need to get you to the hospital right now though."

"I'm not going anywhere until I know that they're both safe." Derek stated.

"Morgan-"

"No Hotch!" he shook the medics hands off him. "You did the same thing when you were in my position."

"All right, we won't leave until we find them." Hotch knew that he wouldn't be able to convince him. "But you are at least going to sit outside in the ambulance."

"Deal," Morgan slowly stood up and walked outside to where the ambulances were waiting.

"I think I know where they're hiding," Paul told them as he followed behind them.

* * *

Emily and JJ got outside as they heard a noise. They ran to the side of the house as they saw a glass window lift up and Reid crawled out.

"Any sign of them?" JJ asked as he stood upright again.

"It's obvious that she used it to escape," Reid showed them one of Jamie's pacifiers that he had found on his way down the tunnel.

"Where would she go?" Emily shone her flashlight all around the yard and all she saw were high bushes.

"Wait," JJ held her ear piece tightly to her ear. "Got it, Hotch."

"What'd he say?"

"Paul told him that there's a storm cellar out here. It has a mechanism that automatically locks behind you once you enter."

"I don't see a storm cellar," Reid shone his flashlight all along the property.

"It's hidden by a fake patch of bushes," JJ added.

"Wait," Emily knelt down in the grass and picked up an object; it was Jamie's stuffed puppy. "They're somewhere close."

The three of them continued to search the area; after awhile their flashights dimmed and they could barely see in front of them anymore. Reid stumbled and JJ reached out to help him up.

"These are plastic," Reid looked up at them.

JJ called back to Hotch as Emily and Reid moved the fake bushes and saw the door to the storm cellar. They heard footsteps and saw Rossi rushing towards them. He helped them lift the door and held it open with a plank of wood that was on the first step leading down into the cellar. Rossi followed the other three down the steps and they started frantically searching for Penelope and Jamie.

"Garcia, are you down here?" Reid called.

"It's ok now." Emily called. "You can stop hiding now. You're all safe."

They turned as they heard a noise and pulled their guns out as they crept towards the corner where the noise came from. Emily shone her light on an area that seemed to be a small space surrounded by planks of wood and covered with blankets. They heard the noise again and JJ slowly crept in to see Jamie sitting on the floor and eating something that he kept pulling from a small bookbag.

"Come here buddy," she gently picked him up and soothed him. "Where's your Mama at?"

"I'm here," they heard a soft voice.

Reid took Jamie as JJ and Emily crept farther into the poorly-constructed 'room'. They flashed their lights as they heard more noise and saw Penelope attempting to stand up unsteadily.

"Garcie," JJ went to help her. "Are you ok?"

"Jamie," she mumbled.

"He's fine. Reid has him." Emily told her. "Are you ok?"

"I think I hit my head when I rushed down the stairs." She told them. "I just couldn't think straight. My only thought was to make sure that Jamie was safe."

"We'll get you checked out at the hospital," Emily grabbed the bookbag that was filled with Jamie's drinks and snacks.

JJ held onto Penelope tightly as they led her up the stairs where Rossi and Reid were with Jamie. She smiled as Jamie reached for her, but she shook her head knowing that she couldn't see straight at the moment.

"We'll take you to the EMTs so you can get looked at along with Morgan." Rossi told her.

"Is he ok?" Penelope glanced at all of them.

"We think Morgan just has a concussion," Emily told her. "But he refused to leave until he knew that the two of you were ok."

"He is a very stubborn man, as you know." JJ helped her walk since she was a little unsteady on her feet.

"His only concern was for the two of you, Kitten." Dave told her as they all started walking towards the front of the house.

"What about Paul?" Penelope mumbled.

"He seems fine." Reid told her as they saw all the uniformed agents come into view. "He's probably trying to come to terms with some unexpected news right now."

"What kind of unexpected news?"

"That can wait until later," Rossi told her. "I think this next week at least is going to be very difficult for all of us."

* * *

Derek was sitting in the back of the ambulance as the EMT attempted to clean his head wound. Hotch stood near him in case he decided to take off and search for Penelope and Jamie on his own. He was getting antsy waiting on any word about them. He just wanted to see them; to make sure that they were ok.

"Morgan," Hotch nudged him and gestured to the side of the house.

He looked over and saw a group of figures slowly walking towards them; one was being assisted by another. He attempted to get up, but Hotch pushed him back down.

"Stay down." Hotch demanded. "They'll come to you."

"We found her," JJ said as she helped Penelope sit down by Derek. "She was hiding her and Jamie in a makeshift corner in the cellar."

"Baby Girl," Derek embraced her tightly once she reached him. "Are you two ok?"

"We are now," she mumbled.

"I think she needs the gurney more than you do right now." Rossi told him.

"Why?" Derek pulled back and saw that Penelope seemed to be trying hard to focus on him.

"She said that she thinks she hit her head in her rush to get them down to safety."

"Come on," Derek helped Penelope onto the gurney and sat across from her.

"Get them both to the hospital quickly," Hotch told the EMTs and they nodded.

"We'll follow you," Rossi told them.

"Jamie," Penelope started to sit up.

"Lay back down!" Morgan demanded.

"We got him," JJ assured her.

The ambulance doors closed and the rest of the team glanced at each other.

"So what now?" Reid asked.

"You three go to the hospital," Hotch looked at Reid, JJ and Emily. "Dave and I will stay here and help the Marshalls process everything."

"Where's Paul?" JJ asked.

"He rode in the ambulance with Stella,"

"She survived?"

"Her and her husband. They just had flesh wounds. They were knocked unconscious when Derek shot an object off a shelf and it dropped on them."

"Let's go," Emily told them. "We'll call Anderson on the way and tell him what happened."

Hotch and Rossi joined the Marshalls inside the safe house as the three of them climbed into the SUV with Jamie and sped away.

* * *

 **AN:** So what'd you all think? I hope you liked this. PLZ R&R!


	9. Chapter 9

**AN:** I know it's been awhile since I've updated, but things have been crazy busy this past week with the holiday. I hope you like this chapter. Sorry if there are any mistakes. I just finished this at two in the morning. PLZ R&R!

 **Disclaimer:** See first chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

Agent Anderson kept looking up from the report he was filling out as he kept a watchful eye on his fellow agents' families. The adults all seemed on edge as they all took to pacing. Anderson's desk phone rang and he snatched it up.

"Yes sir, I'll bring them right over." Anderson spoke into the phone and both Fran and Tim looked over at him.

"Something has happened," Tim stated and Fran nodded.

"Can you tell if it's good or bad news?" Shelley asked.

"I'm not sure," Fran told them as Anderson came over to them.

"I have orders to get you all to Potomac Hospital," he told them.

"Oh god," Desiree gasped.

"I was told that Agents Morgan and Garcia were conscious when they left the scene in the ambulance,"

"Let's go," Sarah stated and they all filed out of the building.

* * *

JJ carried Jamie into the hospital as Emily and Reid followed right behind her. Emily approached the front desk and the nurses directed her down the hall. They all rushed down the hall and into a room that had two beds, separated by a curtain, both of them were empty at the moment.

"Are you looking for Derek Morgan and Penelope Garcia?" a nurse came into the room.

"Yes, are they ok?" JJ asked.

"They're down in radiology getting CT scans," she told them. "It should only last about fifteen more minutes, then they'll be in here."

"Thank you,"

"They did make a request before they went down though. They asked that their families not see Jamie until they're back and conscious."

"I'm on it," JJ handed Jamie to Emily and took out her phone. "Will, I need you to come down to Potomac hospital. No, I'm fine. It's a long story. I will explain everything when you get down here. Ok, I'll see you soon."

* * *

The government vehicle came to a stop in front of the hospital and the group of seven scrambled out of it and rushed inside. The nurses saw them all coming and couldn't understand what they were saying.

"They're looking for Agent Morgan's and Garcia's room," they heard behind them and saw Agents Hotchner and Rossi coming into the hospital as well. "So are we."

The nurses directed them down the hall and rushed into the room to see Prentiss, Reid and JJ occupying the chairs as the two cots in the room were empty.

"They're getting CT scans," JJ told them. "They should be almost done."

"Where's my grandson at?" Fran scanned the room.

"He is in an undisclosed location within the hospital with my husband Will."

"What?"

"They don't want you guys to meet him unless you're all in the same room and Garcia and Morgan are both conscious and coherent."

"We can wait a little longer Ma," Desiree smiled at her mother. "At least they're all ok."

"You're right," Fran sighed.

"So what exactly happened at the safe house?" Tim asked.

"Well we got there and the power had been cut…." Hotch started to explain to them.

"So Penelope was safe when you found her?" Sarah asked.

"She hit her head when she was trying to get her and Jamie to safety," Emily told them. "But they were both safe."

"Thank god," Tim sighed.

"So what's going to happen now?" Shelley asked.

"Paul is with his cousin and her husband right now," Hotch told them. "Once they are both awake, I'm going to interrogate them with him."

"What kind of time are they looking at?" Fran asked.

"That depends on if we can get them to cooperate, and how much they can tell us."

They all stopped talking when they saw a couple doctors and nurses pushing two gurneys into the room. They all stood up and watched as the unconscious forms of Derek and Penelope were transferred from the gurneys to the beds that were in the room.

"How are they?" Hotch looked at the doctor as he approached them and the nurses continued to get them situated.

"They both have slight concussions," he told them. "We gave them mild sedatives which won't cause problems with the concussions. You're all more than welcome to stay with them in here, but they will most likely be out until the morning."

"Thank you," the doctors and nurses filed out of the room and the group filed around the beds.

"Hey Baby Boy," Fran took her son's hand. "I'm right here. So are your sisters."

"We're all here, Big Brother." Desiree added. "And we are so proud of you."

"You need to wake up soon," Sarah took his other hand. "Because I really want to meet my nephew."

"Hey Sis," Tim went to stand by Penelope's bed. "I'm so glad that you're all right. You need to wake up so we can get reacquainted."

"She'll be fine," Shelley told him as they held their daughters close to them.

The team was standing in between the two beds and watched the two occupants continue to sleep off the medications.

* * *

Derek blinked his eyes open and looked around; he realized that he was in a stark white hospital room. He slowly sat up as he glanced around the room; except for seeing Penelope fast asleep in the bed a few feet away from him, the room was empty. He saw Penelope slowly coming to and climbed off his bed and walked to hers.

"What a great way to wake up," she smiled as she saw his face come into her direct vision.

"Morning, Baby Girl." He smiled at her as he gently kissed her forehead.

"Is everything ok?" she slowly sat up. "What happened with everything?"

"I'm not sure-" they both looked up as the door opened and smiled as Fran, Desiree and Sarah filed in with their arms full of take-out bags.

"You guys are awake," Desiree smiled as she went to give them both hugs.

"We are so glad that you guys are safe," Sarah hugged them next.

"Thank goodness you are safe," Fran hugged her son tightly. "You have no idea how much you scared me these last few days."

"Sorry Ma," Derek smiled at the other women in his life.

"And don't you be looking like that," Fran turned her attention to Penelope.

"Like what?" Penelope's eyes got big.

"Like you're feeling guilty," Fran hugged her tightly. "You have nothing to feel guilty about. Especially since you made it so that my son finally gave me a grandbaby."

"But I kept him from all of you." Penelope said softly.

"None of that was your fault," Derek sat beside her on the bed.

"You had no control over anything that happened to you," Sarah assured her. "The important thing is that we have you both here now."

"Which reminds me," Fran looked at them. "Can I meet my grandson now?"

"I wanted my brother Tim and his family to meet him with you," Penelope smiled.

"They're down the hall," Desiree told her. "He's kind of yelling at some unexpected guests right now."

"Unexpected guests?" Derek looked at them all questioningly.

"Your other three brothers are here, Penelope." Fran told her.

"What?" she was shocked.

"Tim had a very vocal chat session with them last night on the computer," Sarah told them. "I guess they all flew in as soon as they could."

"Oh,"

"Do you want to see them, Baby Girl?" Derek looked at her.

"No," she shook her head.

"Are you sure?"

"They didn't respond when I reached out to them. They didn't believe you and Tim when you told them that you thought something had happened to me. The only reason they're here is because they found out the truth about what happened to me."

"I'll make sure they know," Fran started for the door. "We brought you guys some breakfast from the diner across the street. Go ahead and dig in."

"It does smell good," Penelope commented as Desiree brought the bags over as Sarah pushed the rolling tables up to the bed.

* * *

Fran reached the waiting room where Tim had stopped when they got back from getting breakfast. She saw him still yelling at his brothers, but now Hotch and Rossi were holding him back.

"It's a good thing we're in the hospital," Fran commented as she saw the oldest brother sporting a bloody nose. "I thought you would all like to know that Derek and Penelope are awake."

"How are they?" Reid asked.

"They're fine," she assured him. "They're eating the breakfast we brought them."

"Great," Shelley smiled. "Honey, you need to calm down and clean off your hand before you see your sister for the first time in many years."

"And hurry," Fran told him as Hotch and Rossi released him and he headed towards the wash room. "They said that you and your family have to be there before I can meet my grandson in person."

"I'll go get him ready," JJ walked off with Emily following her.

"As for you three," Fran glared at the remaining Garcia brothers. "You are banned from their room."

"What?" Joe asked. "That's our sister."

"You didn't act like it when she reached out to you," Fran glared at them. "It was Penelope who just told me that she didn't want to see you. The patients' wishes come first. She has already been through too much these last couple of years. Now is the time for her to try to start to move on from everything."

"I couldn't have said it better," Rossi stated. "Let's go."

They all started down the hall towards the room where the heart and soul of the team was waiting for them.

* * *

JJ walked into the room that was just behind the nurses station. Will was keeping Henry and Jamie entertained with toys and books. He looked up at JJ and Emily as they entered the room and went to the bag of Jamie's clothes.

"They're awake," JJ told him. "And all ready for this little one to meet his big extended family."

"He had chocolate chip pancakes," Will told her. "The nurses spoiled them this morning. He also finished his formula and I think he wants a snack now."

"Well that is going to have to wait for now," JJ pulled a t-shirt over Jamie's head that had Lightning McQueen on the front of it.

"Let's get you to your mommy and daddy little one," Emily lifted Jamie into her arms as JJ grabbed his bag.

* * *

Penelope was laughing along with Derek as Sarah and Desiree told them stories of what Penelope's nieces got up to when they were put up in the hotel for their protection.

"Something tells me that they get their antics from you," Sarah told Penelope.

"It's possible," she gave them all an innocent smile as she took another bite of her pancakes and looked over at Derek. "Promise me that I can be spoiled like this every morning."

"I plan on spoiling you 24/7 when we get out of here," he smiled at her.

"I have some guests with me," Fran opened the door and smiled at the scene before her. "Are you ready?"

"Definitely," Penelope smiled as she saw the guy slowly walk into the room behind Fran. "Tim?"

"Hey sis," he went to her and hugged her tightly. "Finally. I finally get to see you in person after so long."

"I missed you too," she saw a woman enter with two young girls. "Is this your family?"

"Yeah," he pulled back from her and beckoned them forward. "This is my wife, Shelley."

"Nice to meet you," Penelope hugged her.

"You too," Shelley told her. "I feel like we're sisters already."

"And these are our girls," Tim pulled them closer to the bed. "This is Skylar, who is thirteen, and Jazzlynn, who is seven."

"It's nice to meet you guys finally." Penelope smiled at them. "Now I can start spoiling you."

"Garcia?" they all looked up as Reid appeared in the doorway. "We have Jamie out here ready for the introductions."

"What are you waiting for? Bring him in." Penelope smiled at him.

"I am supposed to instruct you all to take out your phones to take pictures. JJ thinks he's on the verge of a very big milestone."

The entire room took out phones and cameras to prepare; Derek turned on the video camera on his phone as he saw Emily enter with JJ behind her.

"Here he is," JJ put Jamie on his feet and slowly let go of his hands. "I think he's ready to show off to all of you."

"Go to mommy and daddy buddy," Emily smiled.

The entire room watched in anticipation as Jamie looked around the room in confusion. He spotted Penelope and Derek and took a few wobbly steps before he fell down. Fran went to help him up again, but Desiree stopped her when she saw her nephew start to stand up on his own. He took off again and didn't stop until he reached his mom and dad.

"That's daddy's little man," Derek smiled as he picked him up and placed him on the bed with Penelope.

"Hey buddy," Penelope held him. "Are you ready to meet some people?"

Derek smiled as his mom and sisters slowly came forward and Derek lifted Jamie into his arms.

"Jamie, this is your Nana Fran and your Aunties Desiree and Sarah," Derek slowly handed his son over to his mother.

Fran held onto her grandson tightly as Sarah and Desiree gushed over him. Tim and his family came over and Fran reluctantly let Shelley take Jamie from her. After awhile, they let Jamie down and Skylar and Jazzlynn finally got a chance to play with their new cousin.

Hotch came in a little bit later and saw the crowded room; Derek and Penelope were on one of the beds as everyone else in the room took turns playing with Jamie, who kept throwing a ball to everyone in the room.

"Sorry to interrupt," Hotch smiled. "But there are two little boys down the hall who have missed their Aunt Pen and want to see her very much right now. Should I send them in?"

"Absolutely," Penelope smiled as Hotch left and a few moments later, he came back followed by Will, with Jack and Henry in tow.

"Aunt Pen!" the two boys ran in and climbed onto the bed with her.

"I missed you guys," Penelope hugged them tightly.

"Are you ok?" Henry asked.

"I'm absolutely fine,"

Derek got off the bed to give her time to catch up with Jack and Henry. Both boys talked a mile a minute as they told her about everything that she had missed out on since she left.

* * *

Later that day, everyone left to deal with the outcome of Paul's interrogation of his cousin and her husband. Tim and his family, along with Derek's mom and sisters, left the three of them alone to get some more rest.

Fran walked into their room to get her purse that was left behind and smiled at the sight she saw. The three of them were sound asleep on Penelope's hospital bed. Derek was laying on his back with Penelope's head resting on his shoulder. Jamie was laying on his chest as Derek had both arms wrapped around his family in a protective gesture.

Fran quietly went to the bed and carefully picked Jamie up and lay him on the other bed. She raised the side rails and placed pillows on each side of him in case he rolled. She found his bag and covered him with his blanket and tucked his stuffed dog beside him.

"Ma?" she heard a soft voice and turned to see Derek slowly untangling himself from Penelope.

"Go back to sleep. You need your rest. You all had a long night."

"I need a favor," he glanced at Jamie fast asleep on the other bed. "In my bag of belongings, there's some papers."

"All right," she dug through the bag and pulled out the folded set of papers and opened them up. "What is all this?"

"Things I wanted to do for them once they were able to come home. I'm going to need your help though."

"I am on it, Baby Boy." She smiled at him. "I'll get your sisters to help me."

"Thank you."

"Now you get some more rest. We'll be back later."

"Got it," he glanced over to make sure that Jamie was still sound asleep before laying back down beside Penelope and falling back to sleep.

* * *

A little while later, Derek awoke again as he felt movement beside him. He glanced down and saw that Penelope was starting to stir. She opened her eyes and smiled up at him.

"How'd you sleep?" he asked her.

"Good," she looked around. "Where's Jamie?"

"He's on the other bed," he looked over and saw that he was starting to wake up as well. "I'll get him."

"I think that's the best sleep I've gotten in a long time." She smiled as she sat up.

"You're not constantly looking over your shoulder anymore," he placed Jamie on the bed beside her.

"I wonder how it's going with the interrogation."

"I-" Derek was stopped as the door opened and Hotch and Rossi came into them.

"How are you guys doing?" Rossi asked them.

"Great," Penelope smiled. "What's going on?"

"We have news," Hotch told them as he and Rossi sat down by the bed.

* * *

 **AN:** So what'd you all think? I hope you liked it. I'll try to post a new chapter within the week. PLZ R&R!


	10. Chapter 10

**AN:** I'm so sorry that it's been so long since my last update but I had a bit of a writer's block with this chapter. Hopefully you all like how this turned out. PLZ R&R!

 **Disclaimer:** See first chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

"We have news," Hotch told Derek and Penelope as he and Rossi sat down in a couple chairs by the hospital bed.

"What's going on?" Penelope held Jamie on her lap.

"So the reason why the attack happened on you last night was because there was supposed to be a shipment of illegal firearms and drugs come into Luis Santival's warehouse." Hotch said. "They planned the attack so that there wouldn't be any agents available to raid the warehouse. They thought they had it all planned out."

"What do you mean they thought they had it all planned out?" Derek asked.

"Paul's colleagues were contacted by one of their undercover's. So while we were all heading towards the safehouse last night, the US Marshals were raiding the warehouse."

"So the warehouse was raided," Penelope sighed. "Will it really make much of a difference? Doesn't he have operations all over the district?"

"That's the thing," Rossi spoke up. "Ever since you witnessed what you did, they have been working to take down all of his operations."

"How?"

"By arresting his known associates for unrelated crimes," Hotch told them. "And while they had them in custody, they tried to break them. They found out some interesting information when they did."

"Seems that all of his associates were working for Luis under durress," Rossi told them. "If they didn't comply with his terms, he threatened to hurt their families."

"So where does that leave us?" Morgan asked

"Well unless Paul can crack Stella and her husband-"

"Hasn't he told her that he's her cousin?" Penelope interrupted. "Wouldn't that be his in? The way to break through to her?"

"I do believe he's doing that now," Rossi told them.

"Why don't we order some pizza?" Derek looked at Penelope. "While we wait to hear any news on them."

"Pizza sounds great," Penelope smiled.

"I'll call it in," Hotch took out his phone.

"I'll call the others and tell them to come back," Derek smiled at her.

"How are you doing Kitten?" Dave sat beside her as Hotch and Derek stepped out into the hall to make their phone calls.

"I'm ok,"

"But?"

"I'm just waiting to wake up," Penelope looked at him. "I'm so happy to be out in the open, but I can't stop thinking that I'm going to wake up and I'll still be in hiding."

"Well I can assure you that all this is real," Rossi told her as Hotch and Derek came back into the room.

"Will and JJ are going to pick up the pizzas and bring them down," Hotch told them. "And the others are on their way back."

"Ma and Des and Sarah were in the middle of something," Derek told her. "But they are on their way here."

"What were they in the middle of?" Penelope asked

"That is a surprise, Baby Girl." Derek smiled at her.

"You're planning something," Penelope eyed him.

"Maybe," he brought the back pack of Jamie's things over and gave him his cup filled with juice. "But you know that since his birthday is coming up, my mom will want to have a big blow-out."

"That's all right," Penelope smiled. "After spending almost the first year of his life in hiding, he needs to start having a normal life like other kids."

"And having over-the-top celebrations will now be normal for him." Derek added.

* * *

Paul pulled out the manila envelope before bracing himself to go into his cousin's hospital room. He took a deep breath and pushed the door open; he spotted the hospital bed where Stella was handcuffed. Her husband Steven was down the hall; they all agreed that they should keep them separated for the time being.

"I need to ask her some more questions," Paul told the armed guards standing in the room. "We'll be fine."

"We have nothing more to say officer," Stella glared at him as the officers went out into the hallway.

"First you know I'm a US Marshall," Paul told her. "Second I need you to look at something."

"What, more crime scene photos?" she mumbled. "If the other officers couldn't break me, what makes you think that you'll be able to?"

"It's not a crime scene photo," Paul placed the photo down in front of her. "Have you seen that picture before?"

"How did you get this?" she spotted the image of a teemager and a toddler posing together as they sat on a leather couch.

"So you recognize this?"

"It's a picture of me and my cousin before he ran away from our house. His body was found a few months later. In the woods-his body was so mangled from a bear attack that we had to identify him with dental records."

"The body that they found wasn't your cousins. They just needed you to believe that it was. Your cousin is still alive."

"How could you possibly know that?"

"Because I'm your cousin. I'm Paul."

* * *

"Pizza has arrived!" Will announced as he entered Penelope's room, followed by JJ and Henry. "Everyone arrived just as we did. They're all on their way in."

"Aunt Pen, we got you pizza!" Henry went to her bed.

"Thank you," she smiled at him.

"I'm glad you're all right Penelope," Will handed her a plate. "I knew something happened when you just stopped showing up. I just never imagined that you were going through what you were going through. We all missed you, and I'm just glad that Henry has his Aunt Pen back."

"We're all happy about that," Derek picked up Jamie so that Penelope could eat.

"So this is where the party is at," Desiree came in with the rest of the group.

"Come on in," Derek smiled at his mom and sisters. "Grab a slice or two. I think they ordered way too much."

"For this group, not a chance." Sarah smiled.

"Pizza!" Jazzlynn ran to the nearest pizza box and grabbed a slice.

"At least take a plate!" Tim commanded his daughter.

"Now where is the fun in that?" Penelope smiled at her brother.

"Not helping," Tim gave her a look.

"She looks happy," Rossi stated as he sat beside Hotch and observed the chaos across the room.

"It's more than that," Hotch commented.

"She's at peace," Reid told them as he joined them. "She's with her family now. All of her family. Something she's wanted to do since she left."

"He's right," Rossi nodded. "Now to just get her back to all of her old ways. Her job mainly. I've missed calling her for help and hearing all her different greetings when she answered."

"I'm working on that," Hotch told them.

Derek claimed the spot next to Penelope on the bed after his mom took Jamie from him and refused to relinquish him. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. She smiled up at him as she looked around the room at all her family and friends in one place.

"I'm happy," she stated.

"Good," he smiled at her.

"But I'd be even happier if we could get out of here."

"Tomorrow, Baby Girl." He assured her. "Then all three of us can start our lives together."

"Is that when I'll get my surprise?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he stated as Emily came over to them.

"I'm not sure if this will upset you," she looked at Derek. "But try not to go all Big Brothery about it. It's completely innocent."

"What are you talking about?" Derek asked and she gestured behind her to where Desiree was sitting very close to Reid and they were having an intense discussion.

"Don't do anything," Penelope warned him. "See the looks on their faces? That is them happy to be around each other."

"You know a few days ago I probably would've physically removed him from the room and banned him from direct contact with her," Derek told them.

"And now?" Penelope looked at him.

"Now I know how fast things can change," he held Penelope tighter. "Some things aren't even worth getting upset about."

"Aww, Morgan's all grown up." Emily smiled at him.

"That being said, I'm still going to keep a close eye on them."

"Let them have their moment now," Penelope stopped him from getting up and sitting near the couple.

"Dada!" they heard a loud voice and smiled as Fran brought Jamie over to them.

"Hey buddy," Derek took him.

"You are so good with him," Fran smiled at her son.

"He makes it easy,"

"Not to bring everyone down," Penelope started. "But do you think everything is going all right with Paul and the interrogation?"

"I'm sure it's going fine, Sweetness." Derek told her.

* * *

"What did you just say?" Stella looked back at Paul.

"My name is Paul Samuels, but my birth name was Paul Santival. My parents were Sheila and Tomas Santival. My dad helped my Uncle Luis run the imported coffee business, but that was just a front for their criminal organization. My dad tried to get out of the business to try to keep me safe, but he and my mom died in a car accident before he could. I had nowhere else to go so I moved in with my Uncle Luis and his family. When I was twelve, my cousin Stella was born. She was a total princess; if she wasn't wearing some kind of frilly dress or tutu she was very unhappy."

"Prove it," Stella stated. "Anyone could find that out on their own."

"Since DNA would take too long," Paul took off his jacket and showed her a scar on his forearm. "You may have been a girly girl, but you could still mix it up with the boys. This happened when we were running through the house and we collided with the china cabinet in the foyer."

"P-Paul?" Stella burst into tears. "It's really you?"

"It's really me," Paul sat in the chair closest to the bed. "Now why don't you tell me why you're doing your father's dirty work."

"He-He has m-my son," Stella revealed and the flood gates released as she revealed everything that she was made to do for her father.

* * *

 **AN:** So what'd you all think? I hope you liked it. On a side note, I did start working on another story while I was suffering through my writer's block. It's going to be a Crossover with another show that I used to watch. I'm not going to start posting it until I've finished this story though. Anyway, PLZ R&R!


	11. Chapter 11

**AN:** So sorry the updates are getting longer and longer. Life gets in the way when all you want to do is just press pause and sit down and write. Anyway I hope you like this chapter. PLZ R&R!

 **Disclaimer:** See first chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

Penelope was excited; very excited. The doctor came into their room early that morning and gave them the all clear to go home. Emily and JJ swung by to drop off their change of clothes, but left immediately after. Penelope knew that everyone else was involved in whatever surprise Derek had planned. She didn't care about finding out at that moment though. She was just happy to be out in the open finally.

"Are you ready Baby Girl?" the door opened and Derek stood there holding Jamie in his arms.

"I've been ready," she smiled at her boys.

"I bet you have," he took her hand and they started down the hall as Penelope noticed that there were two men following behind them.

"Yeah, we're stuck with them until after the trial." Derek told her. "But it'll be just like the safe house. They won't be inside, but they'll keep us in their sight."

"As long as I don't have to be in hiding, I don't care."

They walked out of the front entrance of the hospital and Penelope saw that Derek had pulled his car upto the doors. He held the door open for her and she climbed into the front passenger side. She turned to watch as he got Jamie fastened into the newly installed car seat in the back and smiled.

"Am I doing it right?" he saw her watching him. "Will and Hotch had to help me install this."

"You're doing great," she smiled. "I'm just admiring the scene."

"What do you say that we have our first public family breakfast at your favorite place?" he asked her as he climbed in behind the wheel.

"I would love to," she smiled as Derek pulled away from the hospital and Penelope noticed the guards following a little ways behind them in an unmarked car.

A little while later, they were all sitting in the cozy restaurant waiting for their breakfast to arrive. Jamie was fastened into one of the restaurant's high chairs as he nibbled on some of his snack puffs.

"It's so good to be out," Penelope smiled. "Just to enjoy the view."

"I'm enjoying this view," Derek smiled at her across the table as the waitress brought their breakfast out to them. "Dig in Princess."

"Real food," she took a big bite of her eggs benedict and Derek smiled as Jamie stuffed a handful of his scrambled eggs into his mouth. "Do you know how long it's been since I had a meal that didn't come from a box?"

"I will be making you a home cooked meal first chance I get," Derek stated.

"I look forward to that," Penelope smiled at him.

* * *

More than an hour later, the three of them were back in the car heading towards their home. Jamie was babbling in the back seat as Penelope just stared out the window.

"Um Handsome?" Penelope noticed the change of scenery. "Where are we going?"

"Home," he told her.

"But-"

"Did you really think that the place I had before you left would be big enough for the three of us and all of the things that my mom has spoiled Jamie with?"

"Then where-"

"Right here," Derek pulled into a driveway and she stared at the house in awe. "Do you recognize this place?"

"Didn't you start rennovating this before I left?"

"That's right," he smiled as he shut off the car and went around to help get her and Jamie out. "As I recall, you made plenty of suggestions for this property. Which I listened to and did what I could. I finished it about six months ago."

"So how come you never put it on the market?"

"I just couldn't let it go. I always pictured us living here and filling the rooms with lots of kids."

"Well let's see it,"

"We're not allowed inside just yet," Derek told her as they headed towards the back yard. "But there's plenty to keep us busy in the backyard."

"Like what?"

"Well," Derek unlatched the gate and led her into the backyard. "Have a look."

"Wow," Penelope gasped as she took it all in.

There was a deluxe playground set complete with a mini climbing wall and a sand and water table underneath. A few feet away was a sandbox in the shape of a turtle with a few sand toys scattered. Near the deck was a bin overflowing with toys to play with in the backyard and a few ride-on toys.

"I think you went a little overboard," Penelope looked at Derek.

"This wasn't all me," Derek told her. "My mom and sisters did most of it. And the team chipped in."

"Is everyone already here?" Penelope tried to see through the back screen door.

"I texted them when we left the restaurant so they should be on their way, but I think my mom and sisters are already here."

"They are," they heard the back door slide open and spotted Reid walking out to them. "But you're not allowed in the house just yet. Mama Morgan is still getting everything ready."

"Getting what ready?" Penelope asked

"It's your 'Welcome Home' party." Reid smiled at her. "Yours and Jamie's. So she's going all out with the food and gifts."

"Gifts?"

"You didn't really expect us not to spoil you, did you Baby Girl?" Derek looked at her. "You deserve to be spoiled. We have almost two years to make up for."

"You all don't need to do this," Penelope looked at them. "Just being reunited with all of you and being out in the open is enough."

"Well that's just not good enough," Derek looked at Reid. "How'd you get here so fast kid? I just texted everyone."

"I was already here," he told them. "Apparently I know Garcia better than you do, Morgan. Your mom wanted my opinion on some things."

"I bet someone else wanted him over here too," Penelope mumbled so only Derek could hear her. "Come on Handsome. Let's see if he likes all this stuff."

"On it," Derek climbed the playground set with Jamie as Reid headed back inside.

Garcia smiled as she heard Jamie's loud squeal of delight as Derek held him tightly as they went down the slide. Derek walked the yard with him as he explored and tried out all the different toys. Jamie climbed onto one of the ride-on toys and Derek started pushing him from behind.

"Aunt Pen!" they looked up and smiled as they saw Skylar and Jazzlynn running towards them.

"Hey Cuddle Bugs," Penelope enveloped her nieces into a tight hug. "Where are your parents?"

"Mom's trying to keep dad calm," Skylar told her. "I don't think it's working."

"Why-they're here, aren't they?"

"So is your team. They're trying to help dad."

"I'm going to need your help Hot Stuff," Penelope looked back at him.

"I heard," he walked over to them. "Can you two keep an eye on Jamie for us?"

"Of course," Skylar stated. "I watch Jazzy all the time. And I recently started baby-sitting all the neighbor kids."

"Just try not to crowd him. He still not used to being around so many people."

"Got it," Skylar went to Jamie and Jazzlynn started climbing the playground set while Derek and Penelope latched the gate behind them.

"I was just coming to get you," Reid rushed over to them. "They followed Tim and his family here."

"These guys should not have to see or hear any of that," Will came up with Henry and Jack. "I think I'll just keep these guys entertained back here."

"My nieces are keeping an eye on Jamie-" Penelope started.

"I'll keep an eye on all of them," Will shut the gate firmly behind him.

"Let's go see the damage they're causing," Penelope walked down the driveway and saw the team barring the driveway from a group of three people.

"We are not letting you any farther," Rossi was saying. "Penelope has made her wishes very clear."

"She wants nothing to do with you." Tim stared down his brothers. "And I feel the same way."

"Tim-"

"It's always been me and Pen against the three of you," Tim stated. "We could never figure out why you hated us so much. We were relieved when you guys left and it was just me and her with mom and dad. We were happier."

"Tim!" Everyone turned to see Penelope heading towards them with Derek and Reid right behind her. "Stop this now. I appreciate you trying to have my back, but they are so not worth it."

"I think you can handle this," Rossi looked at Penelope and Derek. "I'll go see if Fran and the girls need any help inside."

"It is so good to see you," Joe came forward.

"I wish I could say the same," Penelope glared as Derek stepped forward. "I believe you remember Derek. He told me that he called you at least once a week, along with Tim, to keep you updated on my disappearance."

"Pen-"

"But you didn't think I was missing at all. No, according to them, this was my move right? When things get bad, I just take off. That's what it was right?"

"That's how I remember it," Derek stated.

"So tell me what exactly was bad enough for me to take off?" Penelope glared at her three oldest brothers. "The fact that I was in a committed relationship? That we were on the verge of taking a really big step? That I just found out that I was going to have a baby with the man of my dreams? Or that I had finally reconnected with one of my brothers and we were making plans to meet in person for the first time since mom and dad died?"

"Penelope we were so wrong," Mitchell tried.

"Yes you were. You shouldn't have come. So why don't you just go back to California while I celebrate finally being able to give my son a normal life with my true family?"

"We have families," Michael spoke up. "They want to meet you."

"Fine, I'll meet them. But I don't want you three anywhere near me."

"Come on," Shelley started to lead Penelope away. "I think the guys want to say some more to them."

"Just don't get physical," Penelope looked at Derek. "I may not like them, but I don't like you marring that perfect body of yours either."

"Only verbal," Derek promised. "Go enjoy your party while we handle this."

Penelope allowed Shelley to lead her into the backyard where everyone else was. Derek made sure she was out of earshot before turning on the three people before him.

"I want you off my property right now," he demanded. "This is supposed to be a happy occasion. Your sister hasn't seen the outside of a safe house for almost two years. Jamie hasn't had a normal life since he was born. They are finally going to have that starting now."

"And we want to be a part of that," Joe stated.

"Well she doesn't want you to be,"

"I just need to know something," Tim spoke up. "Why do you hate her so much? I understand that she got arrested, but if we're all being honest here we all played a role in that."

"It was our fault that she was arrested by the FBI?" Michael smirked.

"We all pushed her away after mom and dad died, somehow blaming her for their deaths. She felt that she didn't have a family anymore so she went out and made herself another family. A crappy one at that."

"And what was so bad about her getting arrested?" Derek asked. "That event gave her something that she had been yearning for; a family. One that won't abandon her when things get tough. One that pulls together and offers each other support. That event lead her here; gave us an opportunity to get to know each other as best friends before realizing that we wanted more. It gave us a son."

"Let's just go," Tim looked at Derek. "They're never going to see-"

"Do you want to know what really kills me?" Derek turned back to them. "That despite everything that she's been through, she can still manage to see the good in everything and everyone. She continuously makes ammends and forgives people that don't really deserve it. I know there have been a number of times that I was undeserving of her forgiveness, but she gave it to me anyway. But she refuses to do the same for the three of you. What does that tell you?"

"If you're not off the property in five minutes, I'm calling the cops." Tim told his brothers. "They really like Pen because she's helped them out a few times when their system crashed. So I'm sure they won't mind protecting her; especially from people who constantly upset her."

Derek glared at the three of them before following Tim into the backyard to join his woman and child in the celebrations.

* * *

 **AN:** So what'd you all think? I hope you liked it. PLZ R&R!


	12. Chapter 12

**AN:** Sorry it's been awhile since the last update. Everything has been hectic on this end. I'm hoping to get some writing in this weekend so that I can give you guys another update. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. PLZ R&R!

 **Disclaimer:** See first chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

Derek rejoined everyone in the backyard as he saw Hotch and Rossi firing up the grill. He spotted Penelope sitting with JJ and emily in the farthest corner as they seemed to be having an intense conversation. He scanned the yard for Jamie and saw him playing with Jack and Henry as the three of them pushed some toy cars and trucks in the sandbox.

"How'd it go?" Hotch asked him.

"Hopefully they got the message and left." Derek watched them place some burgers and hot dogs on the grill. "How's it going inside?"

"Your mom said you can show her the inside," Dave told him. "But you have to stay out of the kitchen. She's still working in there."

"Great," Derek approached the group in the corner of the yard. "Hey Baby Girl."

"Well I see that you're still intact Handsome," Penelope looked up at him. "So I'm guessing that you didn't decide to attack one of them?"

"I kept myself in check," he assured her. "So I guess my mom's almost done inside. Would you like a tour of your new home?"

"Sure," she stood up. "But I don't think we'll be able to tear Jamie away from all these toys."

"We can have the tour without him for now,"

"We'll keep an eye on him," Emily told them. "Go see your house, Garcia."

"You're going to love it, PG." JJ added.

"Lead the way, Hot Stuff." Penelope smiled as he took her hand and lead her up the deck steps and slowly pulled the screen door open.

"Ma!" Derek called out. "I'm coming in with Penelope!"

"Just stay out of here!" Penelope heard her voice coming from directly in front of them where an accordian room separator was positioned.

"it's not fully firnished yet," Derek looked at Penelope. "I figured we could go shopping for it all together."

"I love that idea," Penelope smiled at him. "Ooh, we should totally get a solid oak dining table for right here."

"Let me show you the rest of our house before we start making lists," he led her through the swinging door as they left the kitchen/dining area. "In here is the living room. I hope it's to your liking, but you can change anything that you want to."

"It's beautiful," Penelope gasped as she spotted the eight-piece sectional positioned around the flat screen TV mounted on the wall.

"It's a smart TV with Bluetooth capability," Derek told her as he led her to the other side of the living room where she spotted two closed doors.

Derek opened the first door and Penelope saw a row of computers mounted on the wall above a desk and a computer chair.

"This is your home office," he told her. "I'm not sure if you wanted to get a nanny, but this is for the days when you can't leave home. This way you can still be with Jamie while you work."

"You better continue the tour before I sit here and don't leave for many days," she told him. "All of this technology is very enticing."

"Right," Derek smiled as they closed the door behind them and Derek knocked on the other door that was nearby. "Are you ready in there?"

"No!" they heard Sarah.

"Come back in about twenty minutes!" Desiree called back.

"What is that room going to be?" Penelope asked as he started to take her upstairs.

"Jamie's playroom," he told her. "That way when you work from home, he can play while you're able to keep an eye on him."

"You've thought of everything, it seems."

"This is Jamie's room," Derek opened the first door and Penelope gasped. "This was solely the team's project."

Penelope was shocked at the amount of detail that their friends put into their son's room. The solid oak wooden crib was positioned in the corner of the room complete with the Lightning McQueen bedding and the mobile of cars hanging above. The changing table was near the crib filled to capacity. Against the opposite wall was a matching oak dresser and toybox that were both filled to capacity. On the walls were small decals of all the characters from Cars with a giant painting of Lightning McQueen above the crib.

"The team did this?" she looked at him.

"They may have had to use stencils for the decals," he smiled at her as they walked out of the room. "Do you want to see our bedroom now?"

"I don't know, it may distract us." She gave him a look.

"I think we can control ourselves for a little while." He slowly pushed the door open and let her walk in first.

Penelope looked around in awe; it was exactly how she imagined that she would decorate her bedroom with Derek. The big king-sized bed was positioned in the middle of the room with the headboard against the wall. There was a fireplace directly in front of the bed with a flat screen mounted on the wall above it. There was an attached bathroom that had a double sink, a walk-in shower and a hot tub nearby.

"This is amazing," Penelope turned to see Derek watching her as he stood in the doorway of the bathroom.

"What do you say that tonight after everyone leaves, we let my mom and sisters take Jamie overnight and we christen every room of this house; except for Jamie's rooms that is."

"I-"

"I know you've never been away from Jamie for that long, but I think we should get used to it. Since I know that my mom will want to have overnights with her grandson."

"I'll work on it," she smiled at him. "And I would love to spend the night with just you Handsome."

"There's a few more rooms you haven't seen," Derek led her out of the room and started back downstairs. "But those are Jamie's bathroom and a couple guest rooms. We can see those later. There's someone that needs to see you."

Derek left her in the dining area and disappeared into the kitchen area. She tried to wait patiently and smiled as a pug came barreling out as Derek followed.

"Clooney!" Penelope dropped to the floor to pet him. "I was hoping you still had him. Did you miss me boy?"

"Of course he did," Derek smiled at her. "He moped around for weeks when you stopped coming. I think he missed you more than I did. You did spoil him."

"Should we introduce him to Jamie?"

"Absolutely," Derek opened the sliding screen door and Clooney followed them outside.

Penelope heard crying and saw JJ holding Jamie trying to get him to calm down. She went to them and took Jamie in her arms and he instantly calmed.

"Mama," he lay his head down.

"It's ok," she rubbed his back.

"He noticed you were missing about five minutes ago," JJ told them.

"Daddy was just showing mommy our house," Derek took Jamie from Penelope and knelt down with him in front of Clooney. "Little Man, this is Clooney. Clooney, this is the new baby of the house."

Jamie squealed loudly as Clooney sniffed Jamie before starting to lick his face. Derek stopped the pug as he saw Hotch, Dave, Will and Reid setting up some picnic tables.

"The burgers and hotdogs are done," Dave told them. "Fran said everything inside should be done by the time we're all done eating."

"Hotdogs!" Henry and Jack ran to the tables.

"You guys sit down while we get them for you," Hotch told them.

"You two go sit with them," Derek told Penelope. "I'll get you a plate."

Penelope took Jamie and went to sit with Jack and Henry. Sarah and Desiree came out of the house with all the side dishes and drinks for everyone. After they finished setting everything up, they joined Penelope and the boys.

"Mom is just about done," Desiree told Penelope. "The reason why it's taking her so long is because she's making all your favorite desserts."

"You didn't have to go to so much trouble," Penelope told them.

"Are you kidding?" Sarah looked at her. "You deserve so much more than this."

"Yes she does," Derek came back with a couple plates loaded down with as much food as he could fit on them. "Can he eat any of this? I know hotdogs are a big no."

"Give him some chips," Penelope told him as she started eating. "This caeser sald is amazing."

Dave watched Penelope's interactions with everyone as she finally seemed to loosen up and enjoy herself. Hotch came up to him and he glanced at him.

"Any news on Penelope getting her job back?" he asked him. "I know her fill-in isn't happy with the job."

"I think that's because of how Morgan treated her," Hotch stated. "I have a meeting with Strauss to discuss it. But I made an appointment with the director as well just in case."

"Good idea,"

"So," Derek looked at Desiree. "You and Reid-What's going on there?"

"I'm not sure," she shrugged. "But you have no say over anything that happens."

"Keep in mind that you're not only my sister, but he's my brother."

"And we don't like seeing our brother hurt," Penelope spoke up. "So you be careful with his heart."

"And I'm giving him the same speech," Derek said.

"Relax," Desiree told them. "We're only talking right now."

"He has a hearty appetite," JJ commented as she saw that Jamie had eaten the majority of what was on Derek's plate.

"He's not used to so much food at once." Penelope told them.

"If everyone is done eating, you all can come in now." Fran appeared on the deck.

"Finally," Derek commented.

"You hush," she glared at her son. "There is dessert in the kitchen and lots of surprises for my grandson and future daughter-in-law."

"Garcia," Emily pulled her back and pointed to the gate where Paul was with his cousin Stella.

"I'll be there in a minute," Penelope told everyone as she started to walk towards them.

"I'll come with you," Derek handed Jamie over to Sarah as everyone filed into the house and he followed behind her.

"Hey Penelope," Paul smiled at her. "Derek, how is everything going?"

"We have her and Jamie home now, so everything is great." Derek smiled at him.

"So what's going on?" Penelope looked at them.

"Well I just wanted to let you know that with Stella's testimony the trial next week should be an open and shut case."

"That's great," Penelope smiled at Stella. "Thank you."

"I just want to say that I'm sorry for causing you all that stress these past few months," Stella told them. "I never wanted to hurt either of you."

"It's not your fault," Derek told her. "You were under duress."

"Your dad was threatening your family," Penelope stated. "I imagine that if that was happening to me that I would do everything I could to get my family back."

"Did you get your son back?" Derek asked.

"Yeah," she smiled. "We're all staying with Paul at his place until the trial is over. Then he's going to help us find a place of our own."

"I know someone who renovates houses," Penelope smiled at Derek. "He did this house. I'm sure he'll be able to find you one that you like."

"I could," Derek agreed.

"That'd be great," Stella smiled. "And I don't really deserve your kindness."

"Yes you do," Penelope assured her. "Would you guys like to stay? It's mine and Jamie's welcome home party. And everyone went really overboard with the food and gifts."

"I actually have to get back to work," Paul told them as he glanced at Stella. "But you can stay if you want. I can pick you up later."

"My husband and son are actually in Paul's car waiting for us."

"Bring them in," Derek told her.

"I'll go get them," Paul left the three of them.

"Thank you," Stella smiled at Penelope and Derek.

* * *

JJ and Emily watched out the window as Penelope and Derek talked with Paul and Stella. They were talking for a few minutes before Paul walked away and Penelope continued to talk with Stella. They watched them hug before another man joined them holding a toddler in his arms.

"I wish I could stay mad at her," JJ stated. "But I know she didn't have a choice."

"If Penelope can forgive her, I think we can." Emily told her.

"Guys," they turned at Derek's voice. "We have a few more guests joining us."

"Everyone this is Stella," Penelope introduced them. "And this is her husband Sam and their three-year-old son Zac."

"Come on in," Rossi smiled at them.

"Don't look so scared," Fran approached Stella. "I don't care what you felt you had to do. You helped bring my grandson into the world. That makes you ok in my book."

"You weren't exaggerating about her," Stella looked at Penelope.

"Nope, she is definitely one of a kind." Penelope smiled.

"Help yourselves to some dessert and drinks," Derek told them. "While I show Penelope the kitchen. This room I had my mom and sisters do, along with Em and JJ."

"He wouldn't have known what you liked," JJ told her.

"This is so amazing," Penelope started opening cupboards and drawers as she discovered all new cooking utensils and bowls and dishes.

They all spent the rest of that day just hanging out and having drinks and dessert while Jamie and Penelope discovered all the surprises that everyone had planned. Stella and her family left as it was getting dark and the guys sat out on the deck talking while the girls did the same in the living room.

Penelope covered Jamie who was passed out on the couch beside her; Jack and Henry were fast asleep on the floor. All of the excitement that day wore them all out. She smiled at the crowd around her as Derek and the rest of the guys came back inside.

"It might be easier now that he's asleep," Derek smiled at Penelope.

"What might be easier?" Fran asked them.

"Would you like to have an overnight with your grandson at your hotel?" Penelope smiled at her. "I think Derek has some plans."

"We have lost time to make up for," Derek added.

"You had me at overnight with my grandson," Fran told them. "I can't wait."

"I'll go pack him up a bag," Penelope started to get up. "Hopefully he'll stay asleep for you through the night."

More than an hour later, a still-sleeping Jamie was on his way to the hotel with his grandma and aunts. Everyone left not long after them, knowing that the newly-reunited couple needed some privacy.

After he finished locking up the house, Derek grabbed a bottle of champagne that he had kept hidden from everyone else. He grabbed a couple glasses and a tray that was loaded down with strawberries, whipped cream and chocolate. He turned out the downstairs lights before heading upstairs to his bedroom.

"I hope you didn't fall asleep this time Baby Girl," he walked into the dimly-lit room and smiled at the sight that greeted him.

"Now why would I fall asleep?" Penelope called from the bed and Derek saw her wearing a see-through nightie as she was curled up on top of the covers. "I have been waiting for this for a very long time, Handsome."

"God how I have missed you," Derek put the tray down and jumped onto the bed beside her as she giggled at his antics.

* * *

 **AN:** So what'd you all think? I hope you liked it. Only a few more chapters left. PLZ R&R!


	13. Chapter 13

**AN:** Another chapter for you guys. I wanted to post this quickly before I went off to work for the night. I hope you like this. PLZ R&R!

 **Disclaimer:** See first chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

Derek rolled over in bed and reached out for Penelope only to find that her side of the bed was empty. He slowly climbed out of bed and walked out of the room in search of her. He silently peered into Jamie's room and saw him sound asleep. He continued down the stairs as he saw a faint light; he reached the living room and saw the TV playing infomercials with the volume on low. He also spotted Penelope laying across the couch fast asleep as she was snuggled under a soft blanket.

"Baby Girl," he softly shook her as he crouched down in front of her.

"Mmm," she stretched a little and slowly opened her eyes to see him kneeling in front of her. "Hey, what are you doing down here?"

"Looking for you," he slowly helped her sit up long enough so that he could sit behind her and pulled her back to rest against him. "I woke up and felt lonely without you beside me."

"Sorry," she mumbled sleepily.

"Don't apologize," he held her tightly. "But tell me what's going on."

"I just couldn't sleep," she moved so that her head was resting on his chest.

"Is it because of the trial in the morning?" he started to run his fingers through her hair slowly.

"Yeah," she mumbled. "I'm a little nervous, and a lot scared."

"Everything will be fine," he assured her.

"But he'll be in the courtroom," she whsipered. "I'm going to see him for the first time since I witnessed-"

"Hey," he looked down into her eyes. "You're going to be all right. We're all going to be in that courtroom supporting you. You will be completely safe."

"I just wish this was over already," she sighed deeply.

"It will be soon," he pulled the covers up over them more and they eventually drifted off to sleep in each others' arms.

* * *

The next morning, Derek and Penelope were sitting at the kitchen counter as they watched Fran make them up some breakfast. She refused to let either of them help in any way, so they sat drinking their coffees as Jamie toddled around them. Sarah and Desiree came into the house and smiled at the scene before them.

"How are you feeling today, Penelope?" Sarah asked her.

"Nervous," she took another drink of coffee. "And just anxious to get this whole thing over and done with."

"Everything will be fine," Derek assured her as his mom placed a couple plates in front of them.

"Are you hungry, Little One?" Fran lifted Jamie up and got him fastened into the high chair.

Penelope smiled as she watched Fran cut up some waffles and place them on the high chair tray and gave Jamie a sippy cup of milk as well.

"Don't be so nervous," Desiree sat beside Penelope at the counter. "That man will get what's coming to him. After everything that he's done to you and Jamie-and especially after what he did to his own daughter."

After they were all done eating, Fran cleaned up the kitchen and loaded up the dishwasher. Sarah and Desiree went to get their nephew dressed while Derek and Penelope went to get ready for court.

Fran and the girls would be keeping Jamie for them today while they were gone. Jamie was getting a lot better about being away from Penelope and he adored his Nana Fran. Derek held Penelope's hand as they descended the stairs and saw Desiree setting up the DVR. Derek had recorded Cars off one of the movie channels so they didn't have to keep finding the DVD everyday when Jamie wanted to watch the movie.

"I guess we're off," Derek told his mom as she came out of the kitchen.

"Good luck," Fran hugged Penelope tightly. "Everything will be fine here, so don't you worry."

"I know," Penelope smiled at her. "Thank you."

"Come on Baby Girl," Derek pulled her away. "Hotch and Paul wanted to talk to us before it starts."

"Let's go," they walked outside and climbed into the car before pulling away from the house.

* * *

When they arrived at the courthouse, everyone was already there. Stella and her husband were already talking to the prosecutor when they approached the group.

"How's it going Garcie?" JJ hugged her.

"I just want this over with already," she sighed as Paul beckoned Penelope over to where Stella was.

"How's she really doing?" Emily looked at Derek.

"I don't think she got a lot of sleep last night," he told them. "I found her on the couch in the middle of the night. I can't wait until we can put all this behind us."

"Soon, Morgan." Hotch assured him. "Luis Santival will not be walking away from all these charges. Not by a long shot."

"Good," he smiled as Penelope came back to them, followed by Stella and her husband Sam.

"They're ready," Paul told them all.

They all filed in and filled the seats behind the prosecutor. Derek squeezed Penelope's hand to let her know that he was there for her as Stella sat beside her. Derek felt Penelope tense as a door opened and Luis was brought out and he sat down next to his lawyer.

"It's all right," Derek whispered. "He can't hurt you anymore."

"I know," she mumbled. "It's just seeing him-"

"It will all be over soon and then we won't ever have to see his face again."

"All rise," the bailiff announced and they all stood as a door to the back opened and the judge came out. "The Honorable Judge Marcus Harrison presiding."

"Please be seated," everyone sat down as the judge opened the thick folder in front of him. "So Mr. Santival, we meet again. And by the looks of these charges, I'm going to enjoy this. Twelve known counts of first degree murder, the attempted murder of a federal agent and her infant son, attempted sexual assault on a federal agent, kidnapping of your own grandson, aggravated assault of a US Marshall, and the list goes on and on. Let's go ahead and get this started. Prosecution, call your first witness."

"The prosecution calls Paul Samuels." Paul got up and took a seat in the witness stand after he was sworn in. "Now you stated that your name was Paul Samuels, but that's not the name you were born with is it?"

"No sir,"

"Can you state for the court what your birth name was?"

"My name was Paul Santival,"

"And your parents' names were?"

"Sheila and Tomas Santival."

"So that would make your relationship to the defendant what?"

"Biologically he's my uncle. He and my dad were brothers." They all listened while there were murmurs of shock all around the courtroom and Paul went through his childhood living with his uncle after his parents' accident, escaping from his uncle's house as a teenager, and working his way up the ranks in the criminal justice system.

One-by-one, all of the Santival's former employees were called up to give testimony. When Stella went up to the stand, they could tell that Luis was trying very hard to stay stoic when she made her claim of blackmail and extortion against her father.

Penelope started shaking when the judge told Stella that she could step down because she knew that she was next. Derek held her to try to calm her down as Stella got back to her seat.

"It'll be ok," Stella told her softly. "Just don't even look at him and you'll be fine."

"The prosecution calls Penelope Garcia,"

"You'll be fine Kitten," Dave told her as she slowly stood up and went to the witness stand.

"Ms. Garcia, walk us through that day two years ago, the afternoon of May tenth."

Penelope started going through her recollection of events as she tried to keep her focus on Derek and all her friends supporting her instead of the man sitting just a few feet in front of her.

* * *

Derek walked out the back doors of the courthouse after finding something for them to eat in the cafeteria. He found her sitting on a bench near the small garden and slowly approached her.

"Hungry?" he offered her the muffin and iced tea and she took them from him.

"Thank you," she smiled at him.

"I just called my mom to check on Jamie,"

"How is he?"

"She just lay him down for a nap. Sarah and Desiree took him for a walk to the park earlier and they fed the ducks."

"I'm so glad that he's starting to have a normal life."

"You need to get back to your normal life too."

"Hotch is talking to the director about me coming back," she smiled at him.

"Good," he smiled back at her. "Now talk to me. You haven't said a word since you stepped off the stand. What's the matter with my Baby Girl?"

"It's just-reliving it-it brought everything back." She lay her head on his shoulder.

"I know," he kissed her head. "I know that this is far from being put to rest."

"I don't want to think about this anymore," she mumbled. "But going through it on the stand, it's just so vivid."

"Just promise me that you won't shut down like you did before."

"I promise," she smiled at him. "I have you here to help me out of it this time."

"And my mom has already talked to me about us giving her more grandbabies."

"Yeah I heard that conversation," she chuckled as she sat up. "You do know that I'm not on birth control. So the last few nights-well there may be a chance-"

"If it happens, then I would be so happy." He told her. "We'll leave it up to fate to decide if we're ready."

"Then I won't go on birth control and just see what happens," she stated.

"Sorry to interrupt," they looked back and saw Hotch. "The jury is back with the verdict."

"Let's go," Derek took her hand as they stood up and walked back towards the courtroom.

* * *

They all sat expectantly as Judge Harrison came back into the courtroom. He read the verdict from the jury foreman and nodded.

"Please read your verdict,"

"We the jury, find the defendant, guilty on all counts." Penelope let out the breath that she didn't realize she had been holding.

"Luis Santival, please stand for your sentencing." Judge Harrison stated and he stood up next to his lawyer. "I sentence you to twenty-five years per count of first degree murder, twenty years each for the attempted murder and attempted sexual assault of a federal agent, ten years per count of kidnapping and attempted murder of a federal agent's infant son…."

"Thank god," Derek sighed when he realized that Luis Santival would not be seeing outside the walls of a prison cell for the rest of his lifetime.

"We can finally put all this behind us," Stella smiled at her husband.

"Let's go celebrate," Derek told Penelope as they all filed out of the courtroom.

"How?"

"However you want,"

"I just want to be with Jamie."

"Ok, so how about I call my mom and have her bring him to us?" he took her hand as they walked outside. "I told you that once all this was behind us we would spend a whole day outside. We're doing that today and tomorrow."

"Ok. How about we take Jamie on his first zoo trip?" she smiled at him.

"Sounds like a plan," he took out his phone. "Ma, how soon can you have Jamie dressed and brought to us?"

Penelope smiled as she listened to his side of the conversation. It finally felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her. She couldn't wait to start living her life again with her family; all of her family, she smiled as she spotted all her friends standing around them as Derek firmed up the plans with his mom.

"She and my sisters are going to bring him in a little bit," Derek hung up the phone.

"Great," she smiled as they walked into a nearby store to get some snacks and drinks for their first family outing.

Hotch and Dave smiled from nearby as the heart and soul of their team finally seemed to be back to herself again.

* * *

 **AN:** So what'd you all think? I hope you liked it. Just the epilogue is left. I'll try to get that out either tomorrow sometime or Monday at the latest. PLZ R&R!


	14. Chapter 14

**AN:** Here it is. The long-awaited epilogue. I do believe this is the longest chapter that I've ever written for a story. I hope you like this very interesting final chapter. PLZ R&R!

 **Disclaimer:** See first chapter.

* * *

 **Epilogue**

Penelope Morgan slowly and awkwardly sat up on the bed as she heard a ringing in the distance. She looked next to her and saw Jamie fast asleep beside her and Clooney snuggled up next to him. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost ten. It felt like she got no sleep last night because Jamie kept waking up from the nightmares that he only gets when Derek is out of town on a case. She was too exhausted to carry him across the hall back to his bed once he was asleep again, so she just let him sleep in her bed with her and Clooney.

The ringing started again and she glanced at her phone dancing across the night stand from the vibrations. She slowly picked it up and saw that Derek was trying to Facetime her. She clicked it on and the smiling face of her husband greeted her.

"It is too early on this end," she grumbled.

"It's even earlier on this end," he smiled at her. "How bad was last night?"

"Only a couple nightmares," she sighed as she sat up, leaning against the headboard.

"Good-"

"But only because I let him sleep with me," she moved the phone so Derek could see his son sleeping next to her.

"Well I hope that tonight is better," he told her as she brought the phone back to her. "We're just finishing up at the local precinct out here. We'll be on the jet within a couple hours and we should be home by tonight."

"Great," she smiled. "That means you're all ours for how long?"

"The next couple of months at least," he smiled at her. "It just got approved. They'll only call me in if there's a local case."

"That is great news," she smiled.

"So how's the little one?"

"She's calm now," she ran her hand over her expanded belly. "She was a little worked up last night when her big brother was having a meltdown. So between the two of them, I didn't get much sleep."

"Isn't my mom and sisters there to help you? Or are you being hardheaded again?"

"I'm not an invalid. I can do some things." She snapped.

"I'm not saying that you can't. The doctor said you're supposed to take it easy this last month though. My mom doesn't mind helping you out."

"No I don't," Fran appeared in the doorway. "Hey Baby Boy, are you all working hard out there?"

"Hey Ma," he smiled at her. "Actually we just finished. We should be back by tonight sometime."

"I'll let Des know. She's really missed Reid."

"Stop rolling your eyes," Penelope told him. "They are in love; and married, by the way."

"Do you mind waking the Little Man so I can talk to him before we board?"

"Sure," Penelope started to shake the figure next to her. "Baby, daddy's on the phone and wants to talk to you."

"Daddy?" Jamie sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Hey buddy," Derek smiled at him as Penelope held the phone in front of him.

"Come home." Jamie stated.

"I am on my way. I will be home tonight just in time to have our bedtime routine."

"I missded you,"

"I miss you too. But I want you to be good for your mommy and Nana Fran and your Auntie Sarah and Desiree ok? Can you do that for me?"

"Otay daddy,"

"I love you and I'll see you tonight."

"Love you daddy," Jamie waved at him as Penelope brought the phone back to her.

"Love you Baby Girl," Derek smiled at her as Fran picked up Jamie and took him downstairs with her.

"Love you too, Hot Stuff." She smiled back.

"I'll be back soon. Please take it easy at least until I get back. Rest as much as you can please."

"I'll try my best," she smiled. "Stay safe."

They ended their video chat and Penelope slowly got up off the bed and went into the bathroom. She took a quick shower and got dressed in one of her maternity outfits before heading downstairs. She eased herself into one of the chairs at the table as she spotted Jamie in his booster seat in the chair next to her as he ate his toast.

"Morning," Desiree and Sarah came into them. "How are you feeling Penelope?"

"Exhausted," she sighed as Fran came out and placed a plate of eggs and toast in front of her. "Aren't you supposed to have a burst of energy the last month? I did with Jamie."

"You haven't been getting very much sleep at night recently though," Fran told her. "And especially waking up with Jamie at least once a night when Derek's out of town."

"Why don't me and Des take Jamie to the park after breakfast?" Sarah suggested.

"That way you can rest and not worry about him getting into things," Des added.

"That sounds wonderful," Penelope smiled. "And he loves feeding the ducks."

"Ducks!" Jamie smiled and they all chuckled.

After breakfast was all cleaned up, Penelope got comfortable on the couch as Sarah and Desiree got Jamie ready for their day out.

"Mommy," Jamie ran into her. "Take bread for ducks?"

"Yes, you can take some bread to feed the ducks." She smiled at him.

"Yay!"

"Come here first," she picked him up. "I want you to be good and listen to Aunt Sarah and Aunt Desiree. And stay where they can see you. I do not want a repeat of last time."

"I was feeding ducks!" Jamie stomped his foot in frustration, much like Tim told her she used to do when she was little.

"But you didn't tell anyone where you were going. We almost had to issue an Amber Alert on you."

"I promise I stay with them, Mama."

"Good boy," she smiled as she let him down and he ran to the kitchen.

"All right, we have extra pull-ups, a juice cup, snacks…" Desiree came down with a small bag for Jamie.

"How long are you planning on staying out?" Penelope asked them.

"However long he wants," Sarah told her.

"Have fun!" Penelope called as they all headed towards the door.

"Bye Mama!" Jamie waved to her as they walked outside.

"Here's some chamomile tea," Fran brought her out a mug. "Now you just try to relax and get some rest."

"I'm not sure she'll let me," Penelope placed her hands on her stomach. "She is a lot more active than I remember Jamie being. She's going to be our soccer star."

"I believe you may be right," Fran felt the intensities of her kicks. "Just try to rest as much as you can."

Penelope lay back down and closed her eyes in an attempt to get some sleep while Fran did some of the housework for her.

* * *

They had all managed to move on from the events that kept Penelope and Jamie away from all of them for the first year of Jamie's life. It took Penelope a little longer to get over the events that happened to her; Hotch ordered her to see a therapist weekly before he would agree to let her come back to work. The only reason she agree was so that she could get her life back to normal and be in familiar surroundings alongside all her friends.

Penelope and Derek were married six months after the trial. They flew to Cancun, Mexico for what Derek told her would be their first family vacation. Unbeknownst to her, their friends were waiting for them in the airport terminal and ready to commence the ceremony. They were married on the beach later that same night at dusk with their friends, Derek's mom and sisters, and Penelope's brother Tim and his family surrounding them.

When they decided to leave the decision about having another kid up to fate, they didn't realize that fate would wait until Penelope was settled back into work for more than a year before blessing them again. Jamie was now almost three and very excited to be getting a baby sister soon.

Desiree and Reid were married a year after Derek and Penelope. Derek had finally let up on his protectiveness; for the most part. They had bought a house a few months ago right down the street from them and were talking about starting a family of their own. Dave and Fran got married not that long ago and nestled into the semi-retired married life and volunteered baby-sitting duty whenever someone needed a night off from parenting duties. Sarah was now living in the DC area just like the rest of her family, but had yet to settle down. Though her eye did linger a bit on Paul, who they all still kept in contact with.

* * *

Penelope dozed off and on throughout the day as Fran cleaned and tidied up the house. Desiree and Sarah called to say that they were going to keep Jamie out a little longer and Derek called to say that he would be later than he thought. But Penelope continued to sleep through it all.

Penelope sat up abruptly, suddenly awoken from her deep slumber. Fran looked up from where she was perched next to her and turned off the TV that she had been watching with the volume on low so as to not disturb Penelope.

"I think you've gotten plenty of rest today," Fran told her. "Do you feel better?"

"I-" Penelope stopped and winced in pain. "Oh god."

"I know that look," Fran sat next to her as the door opened and Jamie ran in with Sarah and Desiree trailing behind.

"Mama," Jamie ran to her and she tried to smile at him.

"Hey Sweetheart, did you have fun at the park?"

"Uh-huh," he shook his head.

"What's the matter?" Sarah saw the distress on Penelope's face.

"I need you girls to go upstairs and get the bag that Penelope packed for the hospital. I think we're going to be meeting the little one soon."

They rushed up the stairs as Fran reached for her phone just as Penelope's went off. She managed to grab it and clicked it on.

"Hey Sweetness," Derek's voice greeted her. "Good news, we just landed."

"That's good, because I'm pretty sure that I'm in labor."

"You're serious?"

"Yes," she took a deep breath. "We're heading to the hospital now."

"I will meet you there, just stay strong Baby Girl."

"Just try not to miss this one." Penelope told him before the call disconnected.

"Got it," Sarah rushed down the stairs with the hospital bag.

"I packed an overnight bag for Jamie too," Desiree told them. "I sure hope I remembered everything."

"Let's go," Fran led Penelope out as Sarah picked up Jamie and they all made it out to the car.

* * *

Derek pushed past Emily and rushed down the steps leading off the jet. He caught up to Hotch and Rossi as they approached one of the SUVs and explained what was going on.

"What the hell, Morgan?" Emily caught up to them. "What was that about?"

"Sorry," he looked back at her. "But Penelope's on the way to the hospital. I have to get to her."

"Everyone climb in!" Hotch announced. "I'll drive. Morgan, you're in no right fit to drive us anywhere."

They all stuffed their luggage in the back and scrambled into the available seats as Hotch screeched out of the landing area.

* * *

Penelope was trying to take deep breaths while trying not to scare Jamie, who was strapped into his car seat next to her in the back seat. Fran held her hand and let her squeeze it as much as she wanted to while they tried not to scare Jamie.

"No, no, no," Sarah mumbled from the driver's seat.

"Can you go around?" Desiree asked.

"Not anymore," Sarah told her.

"What's going on?" Penelope asked. "Why are we stopped?"

"There's a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam," Desiree looked back at them. "And we're completely boxed in."

"How far back are we?" Penelope asked.

"I can't tell,"

"Mama,"

"What's the matter, Sweetie?" she glanced over at him struggling to get out of his car seat.

"Sissy come?"

"Soon," she told him. "Just hopefully not on the side of the road."

"Not if I can help it," Fran opened her door. "Sarah, put it in park. Desiree, you're going to have to walk up there and see if there are any rescue workers up there that can help us. I'm going to see if there's anything in the back that can help us."

"We should probably call the team," Penelope said softly. "My water just broke."

"I'll call Dave," Fran took out her phone as Sarah helped her look in the back of the car.

It seemed like a very long while later that Desiree returned to them with a rescue worker in tow.

"I hear we're about to have a baby," he ducked his head in.

"Hopefully not here," Penelope panted.

"Unfortunately, I think that may be the case." He informed them. "There was an accident and until we can get the tow trucks to move the vehicles, no one is going anywhere."

"Are the people in the cars all right?" Penelope asked as she panted through a contraction.

"They're fine, Ma'am. Just a few minor scrapes and bruises." He started to communicate into a walkie-talkie clipped onto his belt. "There is an ambulance enroute to us. About how far apart are the contractions?"

"Five minutes," Fran told him. "We're not sure how far dilated she is."

"We're going to try to get the gurney to us, but it may be difficult."

"I want Derek," Penelope started to cry as she felt another contraction.

"Mommy!" Jamie started crying as well.

"I'm sorry baby. Mommy's sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"I got him," Desiree unfastened her nephew from his seat and took him out of the car and Sarah unbuckled the car seat and moved it to give Penelope more room.

"My son-her husband-he's stuck in this traffic too." Fran told the rescue worker.

"If you know what mile marker he's at, we can try to find him."

"Mile marker ten," she told him. "He's in a government vehicle."

The rescue worker spoke into his walkie-talkie as Fran sat next to Penelope and took her hand.

"It may not be the ideal way to have a baby, but it is what it is."

"As long as Derek can get here, then nothing else matters." She squeezed her hand as another contraction started.

* * *

Derek tried to see over the back seat where he was sitting as Hotch came to a complete stop. He grumbled in frustration when he saw all the cars.

"Please tell me that we are not stuck in a traffic jam."

"Sorry Morgan," Hotch looked back at him.

"I can't miss this birth." He stated firmly. "I already missed Jamie's."

"I'm going to get you to Penelope," Hotch told him as Dave's cell phone went off.

"It's Fran," he answered it quickly and listened to his wife on the other end. "We are at mile marker ten, why? Ok. I understand. Yes. I will let him know."

"What?" Derek saw his face as he hung up the phone.

"Before I tell you what I'm about to tell you, I need you to promise that you will try to stay calm." Dave looked at him solemnly.

"Why? What's happened?"

"Will you stay calm?"

"I think this is as calm as we can get him right now," JJ told Dave.

"She's right," Emily agreed.

"What did Fran tell you?" Hotch asked.

"The girls didn't quite make it to the hospital," Dave informed everyone.

"What do you mean?" Derek asked.

"They pulled into the middle of this traffic jam without knowing it. When Sarah tried to pull around it, they were boxed in."

"Where are they?" Derek demanded.

"They're about a mile ahead of us with Penelope in active labor."

"Oh my god," JJ gasped. "How far is she dilated?"

"They're not sure about that," Dave told them. "But the contractions are about five minutes apart."

"Reid, what does that mean?" Derek looked over at him.

"I-" he backed away from the look that Morgan was giving him.

"Reid,"

"I'm not sure-"

"Reid, if there was ever a time for your head full of statistics it's now."

"She may be minutes away from delivering," Reid finally told them. "But it depends how far she's dilated and whether or not she's crowning."

"They have someone trying to locate you," Dave told Derek. "So we will get you to your girl for the birth."

"I see a rescue worker coming," Hotch rolled down his window as he approached.

"Is there a Derek Morgan in here?" he asked the group.

"Right here," Derek climbed out of the SUV.

"Let's get you to your wife," they started to zigzag their way through the cars.

Derek recognized their car come into view and sprinted towards the open door. He saw his mom trying to get Penelope to lay across the back seat.

"Go to the other side," Fran told him. "Get behind her and support her weight."

Derek saw Hotch, Rossi, and Reid rushing towards them as he went around to the other side of the car. Reid went and took Jamie from Sarah, who was standing with Desiree away from the car. Desiree kissed his cheek and he smiled at her.

"Daddy!" Jamie reached for Derek as he tried to get out of Reid's grasp.

"I'm happy to see you too buddy," he smiled at him. "But I need to help mommy right now, so you need to stay with your aunties and uncles."

"We got him," Sarah said as her brother opened the car door and slid in behind Penelope.

"How are you doing, Baby Girl?" he kissed her forehead.

"I could be better," she gripped both of his hands as he helped her rest back against him. "We can just never do anything normal huh?"

"Apparently not," he smiled as she screamed out.

"So I guess you've had an interesting day," Reid looked at Desiree.

"To say the least," she smiled at him.

"Where are JJ and Emily?" Sarah asked.

"They decided to go car-to-car and try to collect any items that they think Penelope could use." Rossi told her.

"Good idea,"

Penelope screamed out yet again as another contraction started. Fran shielded her lower body as much as she could from the surrounding cars as she lifted her skirt and removed her underwear.

"The ambulance can't get through," the rescue worker came back to them. "But the EMTs are trying their hardest to get the gurney with their equipment to us."

"Looks like you're going to have to do this all natural, Penelope." Fran told her.

"That's how I did it with Jamie," Penelope panted.

"You did?" Derek looked down at her.

"I couldn't exactly go to a hospital with everything that was happening," she told him. "And they didn't exactly stay stocked up on pain meds for childbirth."

"Well there is some bad news," the rescue worker told them. "I'm not trained for this. So unless we can find someone who can-"

"Reid!" Derek called out to them. "We need you kid. Go over to my mom's side."

Desiree took Jamie from him again and he disappeared from view as JJ and Emily came up with their arms full of supplies.

"What's going on?" Emily asked.

"We think the kid might be delivering the baby," Dave told them.

"Spencer knows how to deliver a baby?" Sarah asked them.

"He said that he memorized a birthing manual when JJ was pregnant with Henry, just in case she went into labor in the field." Desiree told her sister.

"I didn't," JJ assured them. "But he had to deliver a baby in the field once."

"You're kidding right?" Reid looked at his friends. "I can't-you're my friends."

"Exactly," Derek stated. "If we can't have a trained professional, you're the next best thing."

"You did it in the field," Penelope panted. "You were ready to do it for JJ."

"We trust you kid," Derek told him. "You need to be our stand-in."

"All right," Reid knelt down next to Fran. "We need supplies. JJ and Emily were collecting some."

"Girls," Fran called and beckoned JJ and Emily over to them. "We need supplies."

"What do you need, Spence?" JJ asked

"Lots of blankets," he told them. "Drape them so they cover the windows because I can see a lot of people trying to see in here. I also need one under her. And I need latex gloves."

"I have the forensics kit," Emily handed him a couple gloves and he pulled them on. "What else?"

"Lots of water," he looked at Fran as she took the bottles of water. "Are you willing to be my assistant?"

"I'm not going anywhere," she told him as she opened another blanket to prepare to catch the baby.

"Something sharp to cut the umbilical cord like a knife or a pair of scissors; sterilize them with some water. And a shoe string to clamp off the umbilical cord."

They all listened to his orders and Penelope screamed out again as he bent her legs at her knees to check her cervix.

"You're crowning," Reid looked at Derek and Penelope. "I can see the head. She's ready to come out."

"I guess we're ready to get this show on the road," Derek looked down at Penelope. "Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be," she panted.

"I'm going to explain everything as it's happening," Reid looked at Penelope and she nodded. "Just let me know when you feel another contraction coming."

"Oh, right now." She screamed out.

"Then I want a really big push." Reid ordered and she clutched Derek's hands tightly as she pushed with all her might.

The others were positioned outside the car and tried their best to block the view from the prying eyes of the nearby cars. Desiree had Jamie farther away from the chaos as they listened to Penelope screaming in pain.

"The head is out!" Reid's voice drifted out to them.

"Derek!" Penelope screamed in his ear. "It hurts! Get it out!"

"Just a few more pushes Baby," He told her.

"I can't!"

"Yes you can," he held her up. "Hit me if you think that will help, but you need to get our daughter out."

"You can do it Sweetheart," Fran encouraged her. "She's almost here."

Penelope shot up and pushed with all the strength that she had as she felt something slip out of her.

"She's here!" Reid announced as Penelope collapsed back against Derek and he kept her upright as Reid tried to clear the baby's airways.

All of the surrounding cars erupted into loud applause as they all heard a loud wail. Hotch saw the EMTs trying to get through with the gurney and rushed over to help them maneuver. They reached the car and the EMTs tried to access the condition of both mother and child.

"Everything seems good," one of them told the group. "But we need to get you to the hospital so they can do a full assessment and so you can deliver the afterbirth."

"Can you get us out of here?" Derek asked as Penelope cradled their daughter on her chest.

"Yes,"

"Everyone shield them!" Fran demanded. "I see several people with their camera phones!"

JJ and Emily took the remaining blankets and covered Penelope and the baby as they were transferred from the back of the car to the gurney. Dave helped them as the gurney was maneuvered through the traffic and was loaded into the back of the waiting ambulance.

"You did good kid," Derek looked at Reid. "Thank you."

"Go to the hospital with your family," Reid told him. "We'll meet you there after we get all this."

"Their car is in need of a definite deep clean," Rossi commented as he watched Derek catch up to the ambulance. "Or they need a new car all together."

"I don't think they're very concerned with that right now," Fran told him as the ambulance pulled away from the scene.

"You were amazing," Desiree kissed Reid deeply.

"I did what had to be done," he told her. "They needed my help."

"And you definitely came through for them," JJ smiled at him. "They will forever be grateful to you."

* * *

A few hours later, everyone was stationed around the waiting room on the maternity floor as they waited for Derek to come out and give them an update. Tim and his family were flying out to be with his sister when they were informed of the strange circumstances surrounding the birth; they watched it happen live in the airport terminal. One of the onlookers surrounding the car was actually a reporter for a local news station.

"Mother and child are fine," Derek announced as he came out to them. "Penelope just finished feeding her and they are both resting."

"Can we see them?" Tim asked.

"In a little bit," Derek went to where Jamie was sleeping against his mom. "Wake up, buddy. Are you ready to meet your sister?"

"Sissy?" Jamie rubbed his eyes and sat up. "Where Mama?"

"With your new sister. Come on." Derek walked down the hall with him in his arms and slowly pushed open a door. "Here's Mommy."

Jamie sat up and opened his eyes fully as he spotted Penelope sitting on the hospital bed with a small bundle in her arms.

"Mama," Jamie reached for her and Derek placed him on one side of her.

"Hey baby," Penelope smiled at him. "Say hello to your baby sister."

"Hewwo," Jamie peered down at the sleeping form hidden in the blanket.

"What do you think of her?" Derek took his spot on the other side of Penelope.

"Her wittle,"

"Yes she is," Penelope smiled at him. "But so were you once."

"Weally?"

"Really," she kissed his forehead. "In a few months she'll get bigger and will be able to do more."

"And when you guys are older, we know you'll look out for each other." Derek added.

"Right," Fran walked into the room followed by the rest of the group. "Just like you looked out for your sisters."

"I did eventually," he defended himself.

"How are you feeling?" JJ went to give Penelope a hug.

"Tired, sore,"

"I can imagine," she smiled at her.

"You are definitely the strongest person I know after seeing you go through all that," Emily told her.

"I'm so glad you're ok," Tim went to hug his sister.

"We couldn't believe it when we saw it playing live at the airport," Shelley told them. "Don't worry. They didn't really show details."

"Hey Pretty Boy," Derek called and Reid stepped closer to the bed. "We just wanted to say thank you again for what you did for us."

"No thanks necessary," he told them. "I'm just glad that you're both all right."

"Well would you consider being this little ones godfather?" Penelope asked. "It's only fitting since she probably wouldn't be here without you."

"Can we hear her name before I agree?" Reid asked.

"Right," Derek picked up his daughter from his wife's arms. "Everyone, say hello to Jayla Francine Morgan."

"Beautiful name," Sarah smiled. "Can we hold her?"

"Of course," Derek gently placed her in his sister's arms. "So what do you say, Pretty Boy? Will you be her godfather?"

"Of course," he smiled at them as everyone took turns holding the newest member of their group.

A little while later, everyone left for the night with Fran and Dave taking Jamie back to their place. Penelope smiled as Derek placed their daughter in the plastic bed in the room.

"It's going to take awhile for me to be able to move properly again," she sighed.

"I'm just glad I was there this time," Derek smiled at her. "Although delivering her in the middle of a traffic jam is a unique way to come into this world."

"Next time I'm shooting for normal," she told him. "Our next child will be born in some sort of medical facility."

"We can only hope," Derek sighed as he got settled in the chair next to her bed.

Little did they realize that her next delivery (fraternal twins; one boy, one girl) would take place in the middle of a statewide blackout with Penelope delivering on the floor of their favorite restaurant after Penelope's birthday dinner.

* * *

 **AN:** So what'd you all think? I've always wanted to write a birth scene like this, and I thought what better characters to write it for than Penelope and Derek? I tried to be as accurate as possible with the medical and birthing parts as I got most of my information from TV shows. I hope you liked this. PLZ R&R!

Jayla means Jaybird. I was looking for a unique name for the baby and I thought that was only fitting for Penelope and Derek's daughter.

Will be trying to work on my next story. I have several in mind so I may be asking your guys' opinions on which one I should write next.

Until next time!


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